Puerto Rico, Diaspora Call on Congress to Hold Hearings on FOMB
06.19.2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
...
06.19.2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Media Contact: Lia Weintraub, lweintraub@populardemocracy.org, 202-618-2482
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Over 60 organizations today released a letter to the United States Senate urging oversight of Puerto Rico’s Financial Management and Oversight Board (FOMB) before the Senate votes on the members President Trump has nominated.
The letter, submitted by groups including the Center for Popular Democracy, 32BJ SEIU, LatinoJustice, PRLDEF, Diaspora en Resistencia, and Boricuas Unidos en La Diáspora, among many others who represent the interests of hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and the United States who have been directly affected by Puerto Rico’s economic and humanitarian crises. The letter raises concerns about the role that the FOMB has played on the recovery of the island. The FOMB was created to oversee a process for Puerto Rico to regain access to the capital markets, yet in reality, it has seized control over public finances and exerted its power over local budgetary decision making, hurting hundreds of thousands on the island and throughout the diaspora.
Signers encourage the Senate to hold a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to properly investigate the conflicts of interest on the body and the level of accountability and transparency achieved by the public agency. They note a series of offenses the FOMB carried out, including: deregulation of labor rights, significant budget cuts in education and pensions, and electric bill hikes.
“The role that the Senate can play in overseeing the confirmation of the members of the FOMB cannot be overstated. Over the last 2 years, the FOMB has taken control of Puerto Rico's finances and pushed measures that will impact the economic development of the island and the ability of Puerto Ricans to stay in their homeland for decades. The conflicts of interest that have plagued the members of this board are well recorded and raise serious questions about their ability to make decisions based on the best interest of Puerto Ricans. We hope that the Senate can understand the importance of this moment and hold hearings that allow the members of the board to be held accountable before any confirmation vote” stated Julio López Varona, co-director of community dignity campaigns at the Center For Popular Democracy.
“From the moment the FOMB members were given their positions, the Puerto Rican community has held a close watch on the decisions that they’ve made. So far, they are setting us up to fail. We have had families in the diaspora and on the island who have felt the burden of restructuring deals that line the pockets of Wall Street investors. As the administration re-nominates the same FOMB members, we are demanding an audit of their work to date. The nominees must not be voted forward in light of the detrimental actions they’ve made on behalf of our community” said Luis Ponce Ruiz, Co-founder, Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora.
###
New York Could Become First State To Be Completely Done With Private Prisons
New York Could Become First State To Be Completely Done With Private Prisons
According to a groundbreaking April 2019 data brief by #FamiliesBelongTogether coalition members In the Public Interest and The Center for Popular Democracy, GEO Group has a $900 million revolving...
According to a groundbreaking April 2019 data brief by #FamiliesBelongTogether coalition members In the Public Interest and The Center for Popular Democracy, GEO Group has a $900 million revolving line of credit with a syndicate of six banks (BNP Paribas, Bank of America, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, SunTrust, and Wells Fargo), has borrowed $490.8 million under the line of credit, owed six banks a total of $786 million through its term loan, and issued four bonds totaling $1.150 billion.
Read the full article here.
Universal Rent Control Now
The Center for Popular Democracy, the Right to the City Alliance, and PolicyLink recently released a report, “Our Homes, Our Future,” to highlight the critical importance of rent control. Our...
The Center for Popular Democracy, the Right to the City Alliance, and PolicyLink recently released a report, “Our Homes, Our Future,” to highlight the critical importance of rent control. Our networks actively support tenant organizing across the country. In this report and through our affiliates’ organizing, we demand that policymakers put human needs first.
Read the full article here.
United Shades of America
Last year, L.I.T. and the Center For Popular Democracy released a report that showed Milwaukee’s black high school students made up 53% of the student body but accounted for 80% of the over 10,...
Last year, L.I.T. and the Center For Popular Democracy released a report that showed Milwaukee’s black high school students made up 53% of the student body but accounted for 80% of the over 10,000 suspensions during the 2015-2016 school year. That's double the national rate. And not only that, more than 100 black students were expelled for things white students were just suspended over...
Watch the video here.
Activists Take On Medicare For All, The Census And Abortion In Day Of Action
Activists Take On Medicare For All, The Census And Abortion In Day Of Action
A few dozen protesters participated in a series of events, organized by the advocacy group Center for Popular Democracy, that were based around a common theme: the belief that the decisions of...
A few dozen protesters participated in a series of events, organized by the advocacy group Center for Popular Democracy, that were based around a common theme: the belief that the decisions of those currently in power are detrimental to the lives of the people, who must come together to fight back.
Read the full article here.
Protesters Rally, Disrupt Opening Session at AMA Meeting
Protesters Rally, Disrupt Opening Session at AMA Meeting
Jennifer Epps-Addison, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, a grassroots lobbying organization, led the group in chants of "Everybody In, Nobody Out!" She explained that her...
Jennifer Epps-Addison, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, a grassroots lobbying organization, led the group in chants of "Everybody In, Nobody Out!" She explained that her husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few years ago, and even though she has good health insurance, it costs the family $800 per month in premiums, and still more in other out-of-pocket costs. "This current healthcare system not only doesn't work for low-income and no-income people, but it doesn't work for the middle class families who are struggling to get by either," she said. "My family is one job transition away from risking my husband's life. That ain't right."
Read the full article here.
Durham City Council says no to more police
“Kumar Rao of the Center for Popular Democracy was one of the authors of the report. “As a nation we’re spending over $100 billion a year on policing and the vast bulk at that is actually at the...
“Kumar Rao of the Center for Popular Democracy was one of the authors of the report. “As a nation we’re spending over $100 billion a year on policing and the vast bulk at that is actually at the local level,” he told the Daily Appeal. “In cities, the single largest allocation of resources is going to the police department. … No place has unlimited resources and there are tradeoffs involved in that kind of expenditure on policing. It means less investment in the things that keep communities safe.”
Read the full article here.
Linea Abierta: Immigration Edition
Linea Abierta: Immigration Edition
Advocates greet the House passage of the Dream and Promise Act (HR 6) calling it a historic legislation and vowing to take now their fight to the Senate. On other news, according to new figures,...
Advocates greet the House passage of the Dream and Promise Act (HR 6) calling it a historic legislation and vowing to take now their fight to the Senate. On other news, according to new figures, the number of people who are becoming citizens is rising again while activists continue pressing USCIS to deal with the huge backlog of applications. On other story: pastors and churches who help asylum seekers in Arizona are being threatened and harassed by extreme anti-immigration groups and they are not going to take it anymore. These and other stories are discussed in this weekly edition.
Guests: Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director, Center for Popular Democracy, New York, NY; Susan Collins, Director of Policy and Advocacy, National Partnership for New Americans, Washington, DC; Others TBA.
Tune into the program on Tuesday, June 11.
Single Payer Advocates to Protest AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago
Single Payer Advocates to Protest AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago
The protests against the AMA are being organized by Physicians for a National Health Program, Students for a National Health Program, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, The Center for Popular...
The protests against the AMA are being organized by Physicians for a National Health Program, Students for a National Health Program, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, The Center for Popular Democracy, labor unions, teachers, activists.
Read the full article here.
Mueller found no collusion — The Russians didn’t need it
Nick Licata, a 5 term Seattle City Councilmember, named progressive municipal official of the year by The Nation, and is founding board chair of Local Progress, a national network of 800...
Nick Licata, a 5 term Seattle City Councilmember, named progressive municipal official of the year by The Nation, and is founding board chair of Local Progress, a national network of 800 progressive municipal officials.
Read the full article here.
8 days ago
8 days ago