To: Puerto Rico's Financial Oversight Board
Sign the Petition: Tell Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight Board Puerto Ricans Need A Clean Slate!
We demand that as the members of Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight Board draw up a new post-hurricane fiscal plan for the island, they must zero out its debt payments.
Background: The Financial Oversight Board, put in control of Puerto Rico’s government budget by the federal PROMESA law, is preparing a new, post-hurricane fiscal plan for the island. The new plan must include zero debt payments to Wall Street and big banks, which have already taken billions in profit out of Puerto Rico.
With zero payments, any aid that comes to the island and any fair and productive economic development plans can be put in service of the people.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria left Puerto Rico in dire circumstances – decimating its electricity, water and telecommunications systems. This made conditions worse in on the island, whose people had already been suffering for years because of cuts to public services -- including closing more than 300 schools and reductions to health care budgets that left the island’s only pediatric hospital at risk of having its power shut down -- to serve its $72 billion debt.
Puerto Rico cannot hope to recover from storm damage if its people are forced to pay Wall Street before taking care of their own needs. Puerto Rico’s economy will be unable to support working families unless it’s given a clean slate for its public debt.
More aid, zero debt! Let’s work for a #JustRecovery with an economy that works for all Puerto Ricans.
Background: The Financial Oversight Board, put in control of Puerto Rico’s government budget by the federal PROMESA law, is preparing a new, post-hurricane fiscal plan for the island. The new plan must include zero debt payments to Wall Street and big banks, which have already taken billions in profit out of Puerto Rico.
With zero payments, any aid that comes to the island and any fair and productive economic development plans can be put in service of the people.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria left Puerto Rico in dire circumstances – decimating its electricity, water and telecommunications systems. This made conditions worse in on the island, whose people had already been suffering for years because of cuts to public services -- including closing more than 300 schools and reductions to health care budgets that left the island’s only pediatric hospital at risk of having its power shut down -- to serve its $72 billion debt.
Puerto Rico cannot hope to recover from storm damage if its people are forced to pay Wall Street before taking care of their own needs. Puerto Rico’s economy will be unable to support working families unless it’s given a clean slate for its public debt.
More aid, zero debt! Let’s work for a #JustRecovery with an economy that works for all Puerto Ricans.
Why is this important?
On top of confronting a massive public debt, Puerto Rico is struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria. The island needs a clean slate - zero debt - to rebuild and recover, ensuring all Puerto Rican families can live with dignity and access vital services, like electricity, hospitals, and schools.