Puerto Rico will receive nearly $600 million in emergency federal assistance to help the island’s schools recover from Hurricane Maria, the U.S. Department of Education announced today, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Puerto Rico in Distress
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Puerto Rico’s federal oversight board approved a five-year strategy for the U.S. territory’s financial rehabilitation, all but ensuring a confrontation with Gov. Ricardo Rosselló over new austerity measures, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló said yesterday that he would not implement pension cuts and changes to employment rules sought by the bankrupt U.S. territory’s oversight board, Reuters reported. “We will not propose any bill that reduces vacation and/or sick leave,” Rosselló said, adding that it was “wrong and immoral to reduce the benefits” of public worker pensions.
The losing bidder on a deal to repair Puerto Rico’s storm-damaged power grid is disputing the contract award while residents grappled yesterday with a power outage that officials blamed on one of the winning firms, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported.
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The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico was created under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016. The Board consists of seven members appointed by the President of the United States and one ex officio member designated by the Governor of Puerto Rico. Access information on the Board, documents, videos of meetings, calendar of events and live webcasts by clicking here.