WASHINGTON – Congressional leaders have named the eight members who will serve on a legislative task force responsible for examining possible ways to boost Puerto Rico's struggling economy.
The Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth for Puerto Rico, which is the result of the recently enacted law PROMESA and is separate from the seven-member oversight board the law also creates, is divided evenly between House and Senate members as well as Republicans and Democrats.
The senators who will serve on the task force are Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Bob Nelson, D-Fla.
Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, will represent the House on the task force along with Reps. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., and Sean Duffy, R-Wis. Each of the senators named was an active participant in Congress' consideration of PROMESA.
Hatch was initially wary of the law, but eventually gave his support to PROMESA while continuing his calls for Puerto Rico to make the details of its financial situation more transparent. Puerto Rico only recently released its financial statements for fiscal year 2014.
"A variety of fiscal and economic challenges coupled with Puerto Rico's opaque government financing has put a real strain on the financial security of the territory," Hatch said in a statement after he was announced as a member of the task force.
Menendez was a vocal opponent of PROMESA while it was being considered in the Senate and voted against the law. He called it an example of neo-colonialism and took particular issue with its mandating the creation of an oversight board that is only required under the law to have one member who has a primary residence or place of work in Puerto Rico. The board will have the power to require balanced budgets and fiscal plans, as well as to file debt restructuring petitions on behalf of the commonwealth and its entities in a federal district court as a last resort, if voluntary negotiations fail.
Both Rubio and Nelson were early advocates for a federal legislative solution to the commonwealth's fiscal problems.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he is confident that Rubio and Hatch, whom he was responsible for naming to the task force, "will use their commonsense approach and deep policy backgrounds to help Puerto Rico and its citizens achieve long-term prosperity with a thriving economy."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was responsible for naming Menendez and Nelson.
Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., named the two Republicans while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi named the two Democrats from the House. Ryan is also required to choose one of the eight task force members to serve as chair, but information about his choice was not available Friday.
Each of the House members selected for the task force were also key participants in Congress' consideration of PROMESA.
Ryan said it is "crucial that the Puerto Rican government enacts commonsense, pro-growth reforms."
"Reps. Duffy and MacArthur are the leaders we need to make the right recommendations so Puerto Rico can create jobs and reboot its economy," he added.
Pelosi called Pierluisi "a strong and relentless champion" for Puerto Rico.
"As the voice of Puerto Rico in Congress, he will bring in indispensable perspective to the work of the task force," she said.
Pelosi added that Velazquez, who was born in Puerto Rico, "has been pivotal in focusing congressional attention on urgent action to assist Puerto Rico in emerging from the current fiscal and public debt crisis."
The task force will be responsible for examining current federal law and programs as they relate to Puerto Rico to find if there are any current impediments they put on economic growth or healthcare coverage for the territory. It also will explore, among other things, possible improvements that could bolster job creation, reduce child poverty, and attract investment.
The task force is required to provide a status update on its work at some point between Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 and to ultimately produce a full report on its findings by December 31. It can hold hearings but if it chooses to do so, at least one must be held in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is currently struggling with nearly $70 billion in debt and $46 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. The commonwealth also recently defaulted on close to $1 billion of $2 billion in debt payments due on July 1.
