06.28.17

Grijalva: Puerto Rico Board Right to Reject PREPA Restructuring Agreement – Priority Must be Sustainable Growth, not Bondholders

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement this morning on the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico’s decision to reject the proposed restructuring of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. The restructuring proposal would have increased rates for Puerto Rico’s already financially overburdened residents and prioritized bondholders – some of whom have taken an openly predatory stance toward the island’s finances – and set back efforts to put Puerto Rico on a more sustainable economic path.

“The restructuring proposal treated the Puerto Rican people as an afterthought, and the board was right to reject it. We’ve seen too many attempts to treat millions of U.S. citizens as a bondholder piggy bank rather than a community in need of assistance, and I join the Puerto Rican people in sincerely hoping the board has put that to an end with this decision. The future of our Puerto Rican friends, neighbors and fellow Americans depends on what the board does in the coming months. I stand with those who prefer a sustainable economic future to more court battles and deepening poverty.”

Grijalva and Rep. Nydia Velázquez wrote to Board Chairman Jose Carrion III on June 16 urging him and the rest of the Board members to reject the proposal.

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