Posted on 04/06/2016 10:13:02 AM PDT by cll
The draft "Law on Moratorium Emergency and Financial Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico" would give many absolute and unilateral powers to governor Alejandro García Padilla, including the option of expropriating properties from private companies that refuse to continue to provide services to the Government during an emergency declaration.
According to the bill, which was approved this morning in the House of Representatives after being approved in the Senate yesterday, the governor "may take all reasonable and necessary measures to continue providing essential public services and protect the health, safety and welfare, including, without limitation, expropriating property rights of a contractor".
That is, if during the emergency declaration a contractor decides he does not want or is not feasible to continue providing related health, safety and welfare services, then García Padilla could expropriate their property to guarantee services.
The measure further provides that any government contract may not be terminated or modified during the period of emergency and voids any resulting claims or lawsuits on the matter.
With regard to claims, the Senate bill 1591 specifically states that no person or entity that has any claim or right against the Government may exercise the same, such as acceleration or termination of payment or compensation right remedy.
In Article 202, which specifies the conditions of the emergency period, it is noted that the bondholders "will receive the minimum payment of the debt" and that when the Government is obliged to pay interest then creditors will be "entitled to accrue interest on the portion you have not been paid at a rate equal to the contractual rate of interest. "
The measure gives the power to the governor to suspend payment of any obligation guaranteed by the Government Development Bank (GDB), payment under any letter of credit ( "letter of credit") and any obligation or commitment to lend or provide money or credit, against the end of the bank itself.
"Subject to the availability of funds and aggregate disbursement established by the governor, amount the Bank will honor any request for withdrawal or transfer of deposits or any request to honor a check of a municipality, the Judicial Branch, the UPR, the Assembly legislative or its agencies, the Office of the Comptroller, the Office of the Election Comptroller, the State Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, the Office of Special Independent Prosecutor "as long as certifying that the funds will be used for payment of services essential.
Among the charges, set forth in Article 204 of the proposed moratorium, anyone who makes a check to withdraw all or a substantial portion of their deposits in the BGF is guilty of a serious crime that can be punished with imprisonment up to one year or with a fine not less than $ 25,000.
Meanwhile, the measure provides that during a decree of emergency period the governor also may suspend the allocation of money to pay any debt blanketed by entities and may also freeze the transfer of money for an entity to pay them their bondholders .
Here comes the bailout....BOHICA.
They had 100 years of democracy. That’s a pretty good run for a Latin American country.
“I’m just amazed at the ability of politicians to ‘kick the financial can down the road” time after time. I had hoped that California would go bust, and I still hope that it will, but somehow they manage to continually paper over our burgeoning debt. I just imagine the final step will be to try and confiscate the life savings of those of us who worked and saved to provide for ourselves at the ends of our lives. Even in our municipal bankruptcies where the courts have granted the involved cities the right to give “haircuts” to their public employees and their retirements, they have refused to do so. So my guess is that they will succeed in going bankrupt yet again. It’s just a bunch of bullShit!
"State govt, D.C. or P.Rico? IMO, all 3 /s"
I agree.
Delay disability checks a week or two and they’ll come around.
Delay disability checks a week or two and they’ll come around.
Yep.
In Puerto Rico you get Social Security Disability for speaking Spanish.
Puerto Rico is the new Haiti.
“Puerto Rico is the new Haiti.”
The most hilarious part of all this, is that I’m seeing ads trying to get folks to call their Congressman to stop them from letting PR declare bankruptcy.
Who in their right mind would ever be involved with loaning money or buying bonds from Puerto Rico? Well apparently lots of hedge funds and retirement funds. PR will not pay them back. That money is long gone through cronyism and corruption.
Legally bankrupt or not, that money is gone.
We need to appoint a military commission to oversee their legislature and manage their finances until P.R. Gets back on its feet. They won’t do it themselves.
What Contractors are they talking about?
It is as if they hired a bunch of strangers to “serve them” instead of handing these contracts to their relatives and friends.
That is another gave of Rican screwing Rican.
They should be proud.
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