Dangling disaster relief funds, White House to require Puerto Rico to implement reforms
Source: wash post
Jan. 15, 2020 at 1:57 p.m. CST
PONCE, Puerto Rico — The Trump administration plans to impose several new requirements on billions of dollars in aid for Puerto Rico, including a new restriction on the wages paid by the island’s government to contractors working on disaster relief, according to two officials with knowledge of the plan.
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Under the parameters the Trump administration is proposing, Puerto Rico’s government will have to agree to give new oversight authority to the island’s federally mandated Fiscal Control Board — an appointed, independent government body — to receive funding for certain federal projects, officials said. Puerto Rico also will have to agree to pay federal contractors working on disaster relief less than $15 an hour, despite a recent executive order mandating the rate.
Hit by devastating earthquakes, Puerto Rico still waiting on billions for hurricane relief
Puerto Rico’s government also will have to agree to create a new system for registering properties and deeds, a move aimed at curbing fraud in requests for federal reimbursement, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. A fourth requirement would mandate that none of the disaster mitigation funding go toward the island’s electrical grid, which is notoriously frail and has at times left residents without power for months.
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Puerto Rico earthquake aftershocks again rattle coastline as residents deal with disaster after disaster
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“The help comes, but it comes one drop at a time,” said Elizabeth Ocasio, deputy mayor of Ponce. “We needed to strengthen these structures after the hurricane. Now, we have greater damage.”
Congressional Democrats and Puerto Rico officials have denounced the Trump administration for stalling aid that could assist the island’s slow and difficult recovery. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who chairs the committee that oversees U.S. territories, said the process is starting to move, but Puerto Rico faces a specific set of challenges as a cash-strapped island pressured under an austerity program.
“This has been a painful delaying tactic,” Grijalva said.
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José B. Carrión III, chairman of the fiscal board, said in an interview that more authority “is not something we sought” but that the board is happy to help the federal government get more funding out the door.
“We are not looking at this as a power play,” Carrión said. “We want to do our part so the federal government feels comfortable, and the funds flow to the people of Puerto Rico who need them. We want to get away from Puerto Rico being a problem situation.”
Congress has approved $42 billion for the island’s recovery, but only a portion of that money has been allocated.
The $8.3 billion in disaster mitigation funding was approved by Congress to protect parts of the island prone to natural disasters, such as by building water pumps where flash flooding occurs, said Deepak Lamba-Nieves, research director at Puerto Rico’s Center for a New
Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused the Trump administration of illegally holding the money and called on the White House to “cease and desist.”............................
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/15/dangling-disaster-relief-funds-white-house-require-puerto-rico-implement-reforms/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
It is a long article and lots of information at link.
Delay after delay!!
Link to tweet
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MORE Quid Pro Quo.
Bless the people of Puerto Rico, citizens of the USA. 
