The Board that doesn’t understand

The Fiscal Supervision Board, implemented by the enacting of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) simply does not understand that the Island has been a United States non-incorporated territory since 1898. The recent suggestion by the Board, including cutting around $1,500 million of a $9,000 operational budget, massive cuts in healthcare for the poor and the reduction in work hours for government employees are clear signs that its members have no idea how to treat the world’s oldest colony.

Because of our inferior political status, we do not possess the tools to jump start our economy, to safeguard the helpless and to generate sustainable economic growth. The Board must understand that Puerto Rico is not Washington, D.C., New York City or even the city of Detroit; all of them examples of how to recover from near-bankruptcy — or in n the case of Detroit — full-bankruptcy.

{mosads}This month we commemorate the 100 year anniversary (March 2, 1917) of the passing of the Jones-Shafroth Act (Public Law 64-368) which granted U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico. The Act also created, among other institutions, a state Senate, established the Bill of Rights and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner every four years. It also developed a government structure parallel to that of any state of the Union.

Unfortunately, only two other major changes have occurred in our political situation during this last century. First, in 1947 Congress approved the democratic election of our own governor. Then, in 1952, Congress ratified a local Constitution that allowed us to achieve a limited part of self-governance. Such is the control that even the Resident Commissioner can’t vote in Congress on laws affecting the Island.

Our government has held three non-binding status referendums in order to select a non-territorial status option to govern our relationship with the U.S. The results were not conclusive as no alternative gathered more than 50 percent of the popular vote. That was until November 2012 when the will of the people was dramatically expressed.

For the first time Puerto Ricans expressed a strong distain for the current political situation with the U.S. According to data provided by our State Electoral Commission, 54 percent of the people voted in opposition to the current territorial condition. Most significant was the 61.4 percent of the vote gathered by the option of statehood. Exactly 78.19 percent of the registered voters participated in Puerto Rico’s status referendum. That’s, on an average, 25.1 percent higher than in any U.S. presidential election since 1930.

Due to the colonial status of the Island, Puerto Ricans have been forced to migrate to the States in greater numbers each year. In fact, the past two decades saw a dramatic shift in Puerto Rican migration patterns as thousands have flocked to Florida in search of the opportunities that disappeared during the island’s protracted economic downturn. Puerto Ricans are now the second largest Hispanic bloc in the United States, just behind those of Mexican descent.

If the current political and economic situation continues, and the Board’s recommendation are acted on, we can anticipate that by the year 2020, there will be around 6.4 million Puerto Ricans living in the states. We can also predict that the Island’s economy will complete collapse, to the point where living in this Caribbean Paradise will be become impossible.

Most of the blame for this stagnation in growth and economic downward spiral is attributed, directly, to the lack of equality between the American citizens living in Puerto Rico and the others residing in the states. Benefits to our veterans, for example, are almost 25 percent less than those receive by veterans in Florida, Arkansas, Georgia or Nebraska, for example.

There’s also a huge gap in federal funding allocations. Puerto Ricans on the Island do not receive the benefits of the Supplemental Social Security Program, even though we paid the same rate as everyone, but if they move to Utah, they will be granted the full benefit of this essential program.

That’s the reality we live every day on Puerto Rico and sadly, the Board does not understand it.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

Jose Aponte-Hernandez is a state representative in Puerto Rico and is the former Speaker of the House for the territory.