Pedro Pierluisi’s administration opens the year with a new status-related process

Washington DC – Unless the law is successfully challenged in court or rejected by the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF), Governor Pedro Pierluisi will commence his mandate by encouraging the State Election Commission (CEE) to organize a new consultation on political status.

Before leaving office, Governor Wanda Vázquez signed the law on December 30 for a consultation that would allow, by public funds, the election of six state lobbyists to work full-time for the Federal Affairs Administration (Prfaa) without any task other than the promoting Puerto Rico as the 51st state in the United States.

He also signed that day the measure leaving it to Governor Pierluisi to convene a new plebiscite on status, the definitions of which will be decided by decree, without the approval of the Puerto Rico legislature.

Puerto Rican Law 167 of December 30, 2020, which aims to elect state lobbyists, requires candidates to speak fluent English and Spanish, swear to defend the state, work full-time, and live in Washington DC or San Juan.

The consultation – which would not offer options on the vote to people who do not believe in a state’s proposal – was organized for May 16, after the referendum on November 3, in which the state received 52.5% of the vote. That referendum was inconsistent with the federal government’s public policy, according to the United States Department of Justice.

But under the law, aspiring lobbyists – four “special deputies” to the lower house and two to the senate – can submit their candidacy from now until February 28, although no one is clear about the process.

The EEG – which just went through an electoral nightmare in 2020 – must order regulation of the process.

However, according to Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) election commissioner, Roberto Iván Aponte, the president has not even decided which parties are entitled to a permanent presence in the EEC.

Commissioner Aponte also stressed that the law refers to early voting, which caused so many problems in the last elections.

According to New Progressive Party (PNP) representative José Enrique “Quiquito” Meléndez, before finalizing its work, the legislator has allocated resources to fund the consultation. It is not clear how much money has been allocated. However, the law establishing the delegation of lobbyists does not specify how the consultation will be funded.

In theory, the allocation of resources requires the approval of the board, although the PNP states that the Promise Act exempts the tax entity from handling status issues.

The status projects were approved by the PNP’s last legislature and signed by the now former Governor Vázquez Garced on December 30, with the aim of avoiding submitting them to a House and Senate not under the control of the party of Governor Pierluisi will stand. . Vázquez Garced has not announced the signing of the project.

The candidate for the president of the lower house, Rafael “Tatito” Hernández – of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) – described both laws as undemocratic and warned that his delegation will legally regulate the convening of a status meeting in search of a free trial. determination and negotiation with Congress.

Candidates for the state’s six lobbyists will be assigned to the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA). Salary is not specified. The person who heads Prfaa has had a salary of $ 150,000 a year for the past few years, and Washington resident commissioner Jenniffer González earns – like congressmen – $ 174,000 a year.

If the referendum is held, the six elected lobbyists must begin their office on July 1.

The following plebiscite

Before leaving La Fortaleza, Vázquez Garced also signed the measure that would allow Governor Pierluisi to call for a new plebiscite. While experts question its constitutionality, the measure leaves it to the governor to set the definitions, status alternatives and the date of the consultation.

Under the new Law 165 of December 30, 2020, the Governor will decide “the alternatives that will be presented to the voters during the vote and any question that will be put to the voters therein. ballot. ”In addition, the governor will determine“ the meaning of each alternative printed on the ballot that will be presented to voters. ”

When the measure was proposed, the PIP general secretary Juan Dalmau, then senator, believed the legislation would “turn the governor into a colonial dictator”.