Puerto Rico task force asks for help in charting island’s economic course

A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers is asking for ideas on how to boost economic growth in Puerto Rico as the island fends off fiscal challenges.

The Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico on Thursday called for input on how the territory can strengthen its economy and avoid pitfalls that would hamper a recovery from a massive debt crisis.

{mosads}“As we work in a bipartisan manner to identify what reforms are needed to grow the Puerto Rican economy and promote prosperity on the island, we are interested in stakeholder input,” the task force members said in a joint statement.

“Information and insights, from both the public and private sectors in Puerto Rico, will be useful to the task force as it analyzes impediments to growth on the island stemming from federal law and programs and arrives at recommendations to remove current barriers to growth,” they wrote. 

In June, President Obama signed a measure that provides a framework for Puerto Rico to restructure $70 billion in debt and establish an outside control board to steer the island’s troubled finances.

Under the law, the task force must write a report by the end of the year that identifies any hurdles to growth and suggests changes that promote long-term stability, spur job creation and attract investment.

The task force is headed up by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and is comprised of Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.); Bill Nelson (D-Fla.); and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) as well as Reps. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.); Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.); Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.); and Pedro Pierluisi (D-Puerto Rico).