Posted on 01/14/2009 10:05:47 AM PST by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
In an attempt to begin reducing spending to balance the current budget, Governor Luis Fortuño met yesterday with the Economic Development Council, which is composed of members of his own cabinet, to emphasize the need to reduce spending in all public agencies by 10%.
This reduction will have to be implemented immediately as the Governor ordered last week in an Executive Order, as well as the recommendation to not fill 30% of the vacant positions of trust.
Office of Management & Budget (OGP) Director María Sánchez Bras indicated that the measures will be temporary because there are only six months left in the fiscal year, but she warned that permanent measures are presently being worked on.
She maintained that reducing government spending by 10% is key to balancing government expenses according to its earnings but did not specify if this decrease will remain in place during the next fiscal year.
"For the next budget we are working on, it's obvious that, and we have to understand, government spending cannot exceed government revenue."
Likewise, she said that, for the time being, there are no agencies that are exempt from implementing this reduction, and that exemptions will go through the OGP. "They will have to be reviewed one by one, and, in their time, all [department] secretaries will have to go through our agency."
The OGP Director advised that balancing the budget will take time due to the current billion-dollar deficit. To do so, she reiterated that spending must be reduced and [the possibility of] collecting additional sales tax should be reviewed (a task being undertaken by the Secretary of the Treasury).
For his part, Secretary of the Department of Economic Development & Commerce José Pérez Riera stressed that one of the most important things the government has to do is ensure that the money start moving.
"For this purpose, we are seeing how we are going to ensure that the money owed to the people who have rendered services to the government may be reinserted into the economy so those providers of goods and services may use the money and encourage economic growth at the same time," he explained.
Pérez pointed out that measures to immediately focus on the development and growth of small and medium business are being reviewed. This was one of the instructions given by the Governor who, according to Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, "emphasized dramatically" the need to speed up processes in all agencies so that the development of new investments and job options in the private sector may ensue as soon as possible.
"Part of the components to get out of the economic fix we inherited is to create economic activity quickly," McClintock pointed out while indicating at the same time that, during the meeting, each agency head was given a copy of the New Progressive Party platform which has now become the new administration's official program.
ping
What is the balance of transfer of payments from the FED to PR?
Fortuño in 2012!!! Oh he can’t run..
If I tell you the amount you’ll jump out of your boots, General.
I’m pretty sure Luis Fortuno is a natural born American citizen. Puerto Rico is sovereign U.S. territory. He should be able to run.
Why not? He IS a natural-born U.S. Citizen, just like I am...and we can prove it.
Actually, I am curious. Which way?
Mistake on my part...
How is this: Palin/Fortuño in 2012...
Oh, and what about our own Bobby Jindal here in Louisiana? Or are you looking at the GOP tapping the Hispanic vote in 2012?
I don’t know.. It depends if Jindal wants to run for VP... It doesn’t hurt to try to tap the Hispanic vote..
Perhaps what the Fortuño administration is looking at is getting more revenue from the current sales tax without necessarily raising the rate per se. For example, creating the economic conditions that will encourage consumers to go out there and shop.
In any event, Fortuño just took office, so his standing in the national political scene will not be strong unless he runs (and is re-elected by a large margin) in 2012. Jindal himself has been in office for a little over a year and has to wait until 2011 to seek a second term.
I’m looking for an accurate amount. Not counting direct, earned benefits for veterans, fedgov pensioners, and social security beneficiaries (we do pay social security and medicare taxes), it’s in the billions. I believe the figure is $2B.
$2B which way, for crying out loud?
FedGov (your tax money) ——> Puerto Rico
Florida/Colorado/NM? going blue this election cycle should be clear evidence of why the Republicans need the hispanic vote. We also need to recapture the Republican areas of the NE in 2010.
I think however that the votes that voted blue this cycle will go red again, if only because they see how bad Obama screws everything up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.