Government transition begins with public hearings

Members of the transition committees for the outgoing Wanda Vázquez Garced administration and the incoming Pedro Pierluisi administration will meet this week in a series of public hearings to discuss topics like COVID-19, education, law enforcement and Puerto Rico’s fiscal situation, among others. The process is expected to last until mid-December. 

According to Ramón Luis Rivera Cruz, mayor of Bayamón and the chairman of the committee for the Pierluisi administration, his team’s chief concern is determining the state of the programs and federal funds assigned for Puerto Rico’s recovery and reconstruction. “We’ve got to be very careful with projects using federal funds,” said Rivera Cruz, adding that “an attempt to hurry the process could set us back to 2017.” Nearly $17 billion in recovery funds have been disbursed of which, $13 billion have been assigned to remaking the Puerto Rico power grid and repairing the Island’s educational structures.

During the week long hearings, the following witnesses are expected to appear: the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury, the Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget, the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (AAFAF, in Spanish), the Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3),the Department of Housing, the Departments of Health and Education, both of which are expected to appear on Thursday. 

Puerto Rico coronavirus statistics for November 16

According to the Puerto Rico Health Department, 78,761 people are believed to have been infected with COVID-19, an increase of 5,901 since November 9. This points to an increase in the rate of new cases, as the increase between November 2 (when the total was 68,172) and November 9 was 4,688. Deaths are also increasing: the death toll is currently 942, with 60 people having died last week. By comparison, 43 people died from the virus between November 2 and November 9.

Beginning on November 7, the Health Department changed the way it records cases, splitting them between confirmed cases (as determined by molecular diagnostic testing), probable cases (as determined by antigen testing) and suspicious cases (as determined by serological, non-diagnostic testing). Viewed through that prism, Puerto Rico has had 41,798 confirmed cases, 737 probable cases, and 36,226 suspicious cases since the virus arrived on the Island.

There are currently 533 people hospitalized due to COVID. 

Faced with the uncontrolled spread of the virus as the holiday season approaches, the Puerto Rican government has once again put in place some of the restrictions it had set aside earlier in the year. A new executive order signed by Governor Wanda Vázquez limits occupancy in establishments—including gyms, pools, churches and at funerals—to 30% and once again beaches are closed to anything other than individual exercise. Bars and clubs will remain closed, as will common recreational areas; public transportation will remain available. Elective surgery remains restricted. Additionally, the governor has tasked the National Guard to assist with enforcement. The existing mask mandate remains in place.  

A new study on the spread of the virus shows that nearly 20% of those infected by the virus in Puerto Rico belong to the especially at-risk group of those sixty or older.

White House seeks to fill FOMB ranks prior to Trump’s departure

With the election over and with nominations in hand, the White House now seeks to complete the process of evaluating and selecting members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) to fill its three empty seats, according to El Nuevo Día. Currently, the FOMB is made up of academic David Skeel, pensions expert Andrew Biggs, public finance expert Ana Matosantos, and its newest member Justin Peterson, a communications strategist and consultant for bondholder groups appointed by Trump after the departure of former FOMB president José B. Carrión on October 5. Peterson’s appointment was met with dismay even from members of Trump’s own party, such as Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González.

The White House is seeking candidates who can expedite the ongoing debt restructuring processes. According to sources cited by El Nuevo Día, the previous board members “lost time by not being emphatic in many of the decisions.” Among the list of candidates to fill the FOMB vacancies are Puerto Rican entrepreneur Miguel Estién and pharmaceutical and manufacturing expert Antonio Medina, both nominated by Democrats. Josué E. Rivera, current director of the Puerto Rico Rural Development Administration, is the Republican nominee. Despite the vacancies, the FOMB continues its work.  

Puerto Rico Justice Department submits recommendations on the assignment of independent special prosecutors in four cases

Last Tuesday, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice submitted to the Office of the Panel on the Independent Special Prosecutors (OPFEI, in Spanish) the findings of four preliminary investigations it had conducted regarding various cases of reported public malfeasance. The purpose of these investigations was to determine which, if any, complaints merit the assignment of an Independent Special Prosecutor.

Regarding the first of the four investigations, involving the management of a Ponce storage facility whose supplies were not distributed to the population following the earthquakes at the beginning of the year, the Justice Department recommended designating an Independent Special Prosecutor to investigate Carlos Acevedo Caballero, former commissioner for the Disaster Administration and Emergency Management Bureau (NMEAD, in Spanish), as well as other agency officials. However, the Justice Department did not recommend assigning prosecutors to all implicated parties. 

The Justice Department declined to recommend an Independent Special Prosecutor in the second investigation, which involved the allegedly irregular purchase in March of 500 COVID-19 tests and which implicated Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced. The legislators who initially presented the complaint, Reps. Rafael Hernández and Denis Marquez, expressed their displeasure at the Justice Department’s conclusions. 

Additionally, the department found no cause to assign prosecutors to follow up on their third and fourth investigations, which focused on the secretaries of the Puerto Rico’s Treasury and Recreation and Sports Departments, respectively.