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| (Courtesy of Rep Jose Serrano) |
TRAVEL: Today, Speaker Paul Ryan will visit the island accompanied by the chair and ranking members of the House Committee on Appropriations, Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen and Rep. Nita M. Lowey, respectively; the Republican Conference Chair, Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers; and Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez. The Speaker will hold a press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 2:25 p.m. Livestream: speaker.gov/live.
Acting U.S. Army Secretary, Ryan D. McCarthy, visited the island yesterday and oversaw operations at the former Naval Base Roosevelt Roads to verify all the personnel and equipment needed for the recovery and distribution of supplies and water on the island.
APPROPRIATIONS:
Yesterday, the House passed a disaster aid package to the Senate, which
is expected to act on the measure next week. The vote clearly articulated a
Republican divide over fiscal policy and the amounts provided as emergency
relief. Opposition to the measure came solely from Republicans, with 69
Nays. The voting record is found at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2017/roll566.xml.
The $36.5 billion emergency spending bill includes $18.67
billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief
Fund (DRF), $576.5 million for wildfire efforts, and $16 billion for debt
relief for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which now needs
additional funds to make necessary insurance claims payments to individuals. In
addition, it includes a provision to release $1.2 billion in contingency
reserves of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to enable
low-income residents in Puerto Rico to receive the same emergency nutrition
assistance that other hurricane-affected states already receive.
LIQUIDITY: In the disaster relief package that will
be voted on today, Congress included a $4.9 billion loan to ease the
government’s liquidity crisis. Community Disaster Loan proceeds are usually
capped at $5 million and are not usually available to pay for the 25% local
cost-sharing requirements, but the disaster relief legislation allows for up to
$150 million to be “transferred in advance to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. The secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the
secretary of the Treasury, would set the conditions for the loan, including any
collateral requirements. The loans may also be canceled in whole or in part at
the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the
Secretary of the Treasury.
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NOMINEE: On Wednesday, Trump nominated Kirstjen
Nielsen as the next Homeland Security Secretary. Nielsen is an attorney
with experience in homeland security and cybersecurity, having served on the
White House Homeland Security Council under President George W. Bush. Elaine
Duke has led the department in an acting capacity through recent destructive
hurricanes in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
FEMA: Requests
for Individual Assistance has been limited to only those residents with
Internet access. When individuals gain access, they must indicate a
physical address to file their request. Address recognition systems in
the U.S. fare poorly in recognizing Puerto Rico’s physical addresses. Alas,
when the system does manage to recognize the address, they confront an
additional problem. Approximately 30% of addresses are postal address, not
physical addresses. Puerto Rico is still awaiting response from FEMA for
its requested waiver of local cost-sharing requirements related to Federal
Emergency Management Agency assistance under categories C through G, which
cover permanent works such as roads and bridges, water control facilities,
public buildings, public utilities, parks and other facilities. If granted, the
federal government would assume the full cost of C-G works. This quest for a
full waiver of the cost-sharing requirements for the FEMA Public Assistance
program that fixes infrastructure damaged during catastrophes was also
undertaken for New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
OVERSIGHT: Rep. Cummings, Ranking
Member of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to General John F. Kelly, requesting White House
documents relating to the federal government’s preparation for and response to
recent hurricanes. This comes two weeks after the letter Rep. Cummings
and democratic colleagues authored a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy requesting the Committee
to hold an “emergency hearing” on the Administration’s response to PR and the
USVI.
ELECTRICITY: In an abrupt change from yesterday, when
power was restored to 17% of the population, today only 9% of overall customers
have power. FEMA will provide an additional $42.8 million to the Puerto
Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) mainly to purchase fuel, bringing the
total amount of assistance awarded to $97.4 million. The total amount
needed has not been provided. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt waived
certain parts of the Clean Air Act to allow for the continued use of heating
oil and marine fuel designated for use in Emission Control Areas that exceed
the 15 parts per million sulfur standard for mobile non-road generators and
pumps used for emergency purposes in Puerto Rico.
WATER: According to the local government, 63% of customers have
access to water. FEMA awarded the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority
(PRASA) $70 million for emergency work, bringing the total amount of assistance
awarded to individuals and communities to $210 million. The EPA reported
yesterday that it has received reports of residents obtaining drinking water
from wells at hazardous waste “Superfund” sites in Puerto Rico. A Superfund
site is any land in the United States that has been contaminated by
hazardous waste and poses a risk to human health and/or the environment.
PRIVATE SECTOR: 87% of grocery and big box stores are open
in Puerto Rico; 79% of retail gas stations are operating.
Airports: All
airports are open, and with the facilities at Roosevelt Roads now operating;
75% of ports are open.
Fatalities: Official death toll increases to 45 deaths directly and indirectly
related to Hurricane Maria. Investigative reporting from various sources have
tallied up deaths to the north of 450 people. Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.)
and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) have asked the Department of Homeland Security to
investigate the possible underreporting of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria in
Puerto Rico.
HEALTH:
66 of 69 hospitals are currently open and accepting patients. 35
hospitals are connected to the grid. The Puerto Rico Department of Health has
sent just 82 patients to the Comfort over the past six days, even though the
ship can serve 250. The Comfort’s 800 medical personnel were treating just
seven patients on Monday.
DAMAGE ESTIMATES: Governor Rosselló calculated the
magnitude of damages may add up to $95 billion (roughly 150% of Puerto Rico’s
annual GNP); initial down payment should be $10-15 billion.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS: On Saturday October
7, the Federal Communications Commission granted an experimental license for
Google’s Parent Company, Alphabet Inc., to deploy Project Loon, which uses
balloons to help provide internet service to people in hard-to-reach places.
News release found at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-grants-experimental-license-project-loon-puerto-rico
JONES
ACT: On Sunday October
8, the White House let the 10-day shipping waiver for the Jones Act expire for
Puerto Rico, meaning foreign ships can no longer bring aid to the
hurricane-ravaged island from U.S. ports. Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL) and
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3966, the Puerto Rico
Humanitarian Relief Act, providing a 5 year moratorium.
MEDICAID
CLIFF: The Center
for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) released a report on the need to
address PR’s Medicaid cliff. The report calculates what the federal government
and states are likely to pay for providing Medicaid for Puerto Ricans moving to
US states from 2018 to 2027 based on two scenarios: continued out-migration to
US states at the current (pre-hurricane) rate, and another scenario in which
the out-migration rate doubles. Under the more pessimistic scenario, the costs
would be $19.4 billion for the federal government, and $12.3 billion among
states, as compared to $7.8 billion for services in Puerto Rico. Full report.
S-CHIP: On October 2, House Energy and Commerce Committee
Chair Greg Walden unveiled the HEALTHY KIDS Act, which would extend funding for
the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and temporarily increase federal
funding for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program. It’s important to note
1) it offers no assistance to USVI, 2) an additional $1 billion would have
allowed Puerto Rico to sustain its pre-hurricane Medicaid program for less than
a year 3) Hurricane will
exacerbate medical needs and Medicaid usage rate and 4) Hurricane has
drastically reduced PR’s fiscal capacity to contribute their share of the
bill. If PR can’t fulfill their obligation, the funding provided in this
bill is well short of the funding needed.
SBA ASSISTANCE: The Small Business Administration (SBA)
makes federally subsidized loans to repair or replace homes, personal property,
or businesses that sustained damages not covered by insurance. For
materials on Disaster Recovery and Assistance in Spanish and English,
please visit: http://democrats.smallbusiness.house.gov/press-release/disaster-recovery-assistance-resources
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