Territorial delegates to Congress including our own Congresswoman Aumua Amata are expected to attempt an amendment to the Puerto Rico debt bill, if American Samoa and the other territories are denied key economic relief when the House Resources Committee resumes review of the bill.
KHJ WashingtonCorrespondent Matt Kaye reports—
Without a ‘better deal’ from House leaders in the Puerto Rico debt bill, the delegates say they will have no choice but to fight for amendments.
The bill was sidelined recently for more negotiations with the White House, after it became apparent, the votes weren’t there to pass the measure.
But the pressure’s on to pass a bill, as Puerto Rico faces likely default on a May 1st bond payment.
Republican Congresswoman Aumua Amata Radewagen and Democrats Madeleine Bordallo of Guam and the CNMI’s Greg ‘Kilili’ Sablan, want the same deal Puerto Rico’s getting—bankruptcy tools, Medicaid matching relief, and Earned Income Tax Credit reimbursement…measures that could provide millions in new local help.
Bordallo at a recent Natural Resources meeting, says Puerto Rico’s problems won’t be solved by debt restructuring alone…and without cross-jurisdictional fixes, the outlying islands could be headed down the same road as Puerto Rico.
She says the White House recognizes this—
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Bordallo, Radewagen and Sablan co-sponsored legislation earlier to fully fund the Earned Income Tax Credit inthe territories.
Interior Assistant Secretary Esther Kia’aina recently announced Administration support to provide a cover-over tax reimbursement for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and to lift the island Medicaid cap.
The changes represent one of the few ways Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs can increase the size of the ‘budget pie’ for the islands, amid continued budget austerity in Washington.
