Washington – When the Democratic majority begins to process, in the coming weeks, the new legislation that promotes emergency funds for Puerto Rico after the tremors of last month, the commissioner resident in Washington D.C., Jenniffer González, will promote the inclusion of food assistance.
“Nutrition assistance and food security are an integral part of any recovery”, Gonzalez said in a letter that he sent on January 21 to the chairwoman of the Assignments Committee of the lower house, Democrat Nita Lowey, and the leader of the Republican minority, Kathy Granger, requesting to include funds to help complement the Nutrition Assistance Program (BREAD).
After the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Maria, Congress – through two different bills – allocated a total of $ 1,870 million in food assistance funds for the island. The most recent allocation, of $ 600 million according to the Department of the Family, is sold out in August.
When the federal government had declared disaster zones six municipalities in southern and central Puerto Rico – now 16 – the resident commissioner estimated that about 290,000 people may need food assistance after the earthquakes that keep thousands of people homeless and homeless job.
Democrat Lowey presented on January 16 a bill that seeks to allocate $ 3,350 million to Puerto Rico and would also allow the use of prior assignments aimed at mitigating the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Maria to assist with the emergency caused by the tremors, which have produced hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and have damaged hundreds of structures.
Democratic legislation prompts the government of Puerto Rico to receive $ 2,000 million in community development funds to deal with disasters (CDBG-DR), $ 1,250 million to repair roads and $ 100 million for needs related to educational issues.
Gonzalez supported the Democratic project, but said that “it is important that it be coordinated with the Senate and the White House.”
“It seems to me that there has been no coordination (with the Senate)“, Which is dominated by Republicans, said Commissioner Gonzalez.
President Donald Trump, who continues to describe Puerto Rican government officials as corrupt, has slowed down and questioned assignments for the island, as happened recently when he forced the new Medicaid funds to be halved.
The Democratic bill requires that the federal Department of Housing (HUD), which administers CDBG-DR funds in consultation with other agencies, publish guidelines on the use of $ 1,932 million in funds within a maximum period of 60 days of mitigation that Congress assigned to help rebuild the Puerto Rico power grid under that program to deal with disasters.
By publishing the guidelines on the use of another $ 8.285 million of CDBG-DR for mitigation projects and offering an agreement to begin disbursing $ 8.221 million from another item, HUD prohibited those funds from being used for issues related to the electrical system.
The HUD rules also contain other new restrictions, which require that each project be approved by the new federal financial monitor for CDBG-DR funds, Robert Couch, and the Fiscal Oversight Board, which controls the island’s public finances. .
HUD’s requirements also include audits, monthly reports on the use of the funds and meeting the objectives of the island’s government to reform the property registry, among other things.
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