Emergency NAP Funds Expire

El Nuevo Día reported that the 1.35 million beneficiaries of Puerto Rico’s Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP) have begun receiving greatly reduced benefits due to a lack of food assistance funds. Puerto Rico requested an additional $600 million from the U.S. Congress for NAP and the request is pending. The lack of funding has drastically narrowed who qualifies for NAP, with the family income limit dropping precipitously from $2,000 per month to just over $400.

Although the U.S. House of Representatives has approved Puerto Rico’s request for an additional $600 million, the proposal was blocked in the Senate after the Trump Administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) opposing the assistance. Talks remain underway in the Senate to include the funding as part of a bill to mitigate recent natural disasters.

Federal Government to Calculate Puerto Rico GDP

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce will begin producing estimates of Puerto Rico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year. A report by the Congressional Task Force created by PROMESA identified more than 30 statistics that the federal government produces for states, but not Puerto Rico. The BEA will start publishing various components of the Island’s GDP, like the consumer pricing index, investments, and exports from 2012-2017. Currently, the production and yearly publishing of these statistics is managed by the Planning Board.

The BEA cited concerns about the potential politicization of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (PRIS), in light of failed attempts to privatize the independent government agency. The PRIS director recently resigned after a dispute over the constitutionality of the Governor’s appointments to the PRIS Board and allegations of harassment.

HUD Approves $8.1 Billion in CDBG-DR Funds

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the second round of Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funds, allowing up to $8.1 billion to be disbursed to the Commonwealth. In making the announcement, Secretary Ben Carson said the approval comes with “stringent financial controls” given the Island’s “history of financial malfeasance.” The funding will be used to reimburse the Commonwealth for qualified projects. 

The HUD announcement comes after advocates for Puerto Rico criticized the delay in access to the funds, which were appropriated by Congress more than a year ago. The Washington Post reported in December that the aid was held up by order of White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. This resulted in the resignation of a HUD Deputy Secretary over her refusal to withhold the funds from Puerto Rico. President Trump alleged that Puerto Rico was using disaster relief funding to pay creditors; after learning this was false rumor, the President reportedly said that he did not want any additional disaster relief funding to go to Puerto Rico.