U.S. Appeals Court upholds Puerto Ricans’ right to Supplemental Security Income

The legal case won by José Luis Vaello Madero, who was sued by the Social Security Administration for continuing to collect Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks after moving to Puerto Rico, has resulted in the extension of that benefit to all eligible Puerto Rico residents. In an April 10 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed that Puerto Rico residents can apply for SSI, entitling an estimated 700,000 people to a key source of income during a time of extreme financial strain.  

Until the Appeals Court ruling in Mr. Vaello Madero’s case, SSI benefits were not available to the residents of Puerto Rico. An SSI payment of $533 per month is available to disabled or elderly people who make less than $750 a month. In making its case, the federal government argued that Puerto Rico’s tax status and the costs associated with expanding the program justified its exclusion. The court, in turn, declared that Puerto Rico residents “not only make substantial contributions to the federal treasury, but in fact have consistently made them in higher amounts than taxpayers in at least six states.”

The ruling is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Puerto Rico coronavirus statistics for April 21

According to the Puerto Rico Health Department (PRDH) 1,298 people have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 395 since last week. The death toll is currently 64, with 18 of those having died in the past week; the reported mortality rate for COVID-19 on the Island is currently 5%. A total of 11,848 tests have been performed—an increase of 3,506 since last week. 

Despite these somber statistics, a glimmer of hope can be seen in the fact that the rates of increase of confirmed cases and deaths has not been exponential, but rather have held steady across the past few weeks. Indeed, Monday, April 13 was the first day since March 28 when no new COVID-19-linked deaths were recorded.  

Marring the reliability of these statistics, however, is the PRDH’s admission of errors in record-keeping arising from the inclusion of people who have been tested multiple times, with each individual test adding to the tally. Additionally, the department has acknowledged that the counted tallies include serological tests and “quick” tests.

According to Puerto Rico Health Secretary Lorenzo González Feliciano, the spread of the novel coronavirus is expected to peak on or before May 8, and he has announced that he will recommend that the current Island-wide quarantine order be extended until at least early June. 

Puerto Rico slated to obtain up to $10 billion in CARES Act funds

Puerto Rico stands to receive between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to official sources. CARES 4 is expected to be introduced next month.

As tallied by El Nuevo Día, the largest pools of federal CARES funds are $2.24 billion for fiscal stabilization; $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion in one-time federal checks to individuals, many of whom stand to receive $1,200; $615 million for the Puerto Rico Department of Education and educational facilities; and $658.6 million in loans to small businesses.

Governor proposes one-time $500 payment to individual private sector workers, pensioners

In seeking to mitigate the economic havoc brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Wanda Vásquez Garced proposed distributing one-time $500 checks to private sector employees and pensioners in Puerto Rico. The expected cost of this stimulus event is $250 million, and the checks would not be available to public employees. The checks would be provided in addition to any other financial aid Puerto Rican taxpayers may be slated to receive.

The Fiscal Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (FOMB) has indicated that it had not been made aware of the governor’s intentions, but that it would evaluate the request once it had been officially made. The board also advised that the governor focus on distributing funds already assigned to mitigate the emergency, including $787 million in economic stimulus funds and $160 million in funds to deal with the pandemic.