Faced with a change of command in the US government, the campaign promises of new President Joe Biden for Puerto Rico could find fertile ground due to a Democratic Party majority in Congress.
According to analysts consulted by Subway, The new presidential administration is a change of direction in relations between the federal government and the island after four years of an antagonistic tone under the presidency of Donald Trump.
Biden’s proposals include including residents of the Puerto Rican archipelago in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), accelerating the disbursement of federal funds for recovery after Hurricane Maria, a public debt audit, and reverse the austerity policies imposed by the Fiscal Control Board.
But while the Democratic Party dominates the lower house, in the Senate the community has the same number of seats as the Republican Party, so they would need Vice President Kamala Harris – who will serve as president of the legislature- to exercise the casting vote.
For the professor of Political Science, José Javier Colom, although the Democratic Party is in a more favorable position than in the past four years, there will need to be consensus in the delegation to push for budgetary measures. “Any measure that is not well agreed within the Democratic caucus had problems because this delegation needs to be fully united for Kamala Harris to come to the tiebreaker,” said the University of Puerto Rico’s Pedres River Precinct professor. He also commented that at the start of the legislative session, President Biden could face a busy legislative agenda that includes a possible political trial against the outgoing president, Donald Trump.
“The terrain is complicated especially at the beginning of the term because the agenda is going to be overloaded. There will be a political trial against Trump while the cabinet candidates are looked at … But what is clear is that the animosity that he had President Trump against Puerto Rico and, a little bit what we know was almost a directive to put obstacles in the way of sending funds, as it should not prevail in a Democratic administration, “he noted.
For lawyer and analyst Joel Montalvo, once sworn in, Biden can push for measures without congressional endorsement such as giving up the case of Vaello v. United States in which it is discussed whether residents of the island can receive Supplemental Social Security. In this case, the federal government appealed a decision of the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston in which it allowed Puerto Rican residents to receive this benefit and argue that the plaintiff must return the money he received from this program after moving from New York to the island.
“As soon as he arrives, President Biden can get there [a Casa Blanca] and to give an order to his Department of Justice to desist from this appeal and in this way it is already a presidential action that could help Puerto Rico immediately without any congressional intervention because there is already a court decision from both the Circuit of Boston and the judge [Gustavo] Gelpí in Puerto Rico, “said former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá.
While analyst Alejandro Figueroa opined that Biden’s agenda for Puerto Rico could face few pitfalls in Congress and predicted that Puerto Ricans would be included under benefits like SNAP.
Figueroa, however, acknowledged that Biden could face difficulties in changing the decisions of the Board of Fiscal Control (JCF), as the composition of the body was renewed under Trump’s mandate and the corresponding appointments were completed. to both legislative bodies.
“To the extent that they are designated [los integrantes de la Junta] you no longer have the power of the president to appoint them. However, it is obvious that public opinion and policy weighs and will influence the form and positions the Board takes on issues of importance in both the fiscal and budgetary areas, ”he said.
He did not rule out that, in the face of this scenario, the Democratic Party would push for amendments to the Promise Act. “We need to see how the commissions that have interference on Puerto Rico are composed to understand who chairs them and then how much attention they will pay to these amendments that are intended to be made and see how the debt renegotiation process that was going on in these weeks.” he commented.
However, in another distancing from the public policy of outgoing President Trump, Figueroa opined that, under Biden’s presidency, he could finalize an audit of the country’s public debt. “[Trump] he was much more ‘pro-bondholders’ and looked with suspicion at the claims being made about an audit order and the cuts in repayment to bondholders, ”he mentioned.