Supreme Court upholds rule that Puerto Ricans are NOT eligible for full benefits 

In a major decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that residents of Puerto Rico may be excluded from accessing Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the federal safety net program that provides direct payments to poor, disabled, and blind American citizens. The program was established by Congress in 1972, but excluded citizens living in Puerto Rico and other territories.

As NPR reports:  “Challenging that exclusion was Jose Luis Vaello Madero. Born in Puerto Rico, he moved to New York in 1985, and in 2012, after suffering a serious illness, he began receiving SSI payments. Those benefits continued for four years after he returned to Puerto Rico. When the Social Security Administration realized that he was no longer in New York, it not only cut off his benefits, but it also filed suit to recover the $28,000 in payments he received after moving back to Puerto Rico. Vaella Madero claimed that excluding U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico violated the constitution’s guarantee to equal protection of the law. Two lower courts agreed. But on Thursday the Supreme Court reversed those rulings..

“Writing for the court majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed to previous high court rulings that had upheld differential tax treatments of Puerto Rican residents. He said that because Island residents are exempt from most federal income taxes, Congress had a ‘rational basis’ for excluding them from eligibility for SSI payments.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor—whose parents were born in Puerto Rico—was the lone dissenter in the 8-1 decision. According to NBC News, Sotomayor wrote: “In my view, there is no rational basis for Congress to treat needy citizens living anywhere in the United States so differently from others…To hold otherwise, as the Court does, is irrational and antithetical to the very nature of the SSI program and the equal protection of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution.” In the wake of the decision, blind and disabled residents of Puerto Rico will continue to get benefits of about $84 a month—approximately one-tenth the benefits available under SSI.

Puerto Rican toll collection system targeted by cyberattack

An electronic toll collection system in Puerto Rico was the target of a cyberattack over the weekend of April 15, authorities said.  The incident is followed by three months of attacks on the phone system, internet provider and official online page of the Puerto Rico Senate.  

The Washington Post reports: “The system, known as AutoExpreso, is run by a private operator called Professional Account Management. Officials said the FBI is investigating the attack and added that so far, it doesn’t appear any confidential information had been stolen…Previously, in 2021, a cyberattack hit the website of a private company that took over the transmission and distribution of electricity in the U.S. territory. Meanwhile, in 2020, an online scam tried to steal more than $4 million from Puerto Rican government agencies, forcing authorities to freeze nearly $3 million. That same year, hackers targeted the database of Puerto Rico’s fire department and demanded $600,000 in an alleged extortion act.”

Record set for jobs in hospitality, leisure industries

Puerto Rico’s leisure and hospitality sectors accounted for a record-setting 84,300 jobs in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Caribbean Business reported that the seasonally-adjusted figure is up 900 jobs from January and 12,600 more than in February 2021. 

“This is another indicator that the tourism industry is recovering from the economic distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are still some steps ahead, especially in those sectors that are not as advanced in the recovery process. Still, these indicators attest that the industry is on the right path to economic growth and creating more and better employment opportunities for our industry workers,” said Brad Dean, chief executive officer of Discover Puerto Rico.