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Civic leaders in
the U.S. with ties to Puerto Rico, as well as U.S. legislators
like Florida Representative Alan Grayson, will convene in
Orlando for panel talks and a “political strategy discussion” to
develop an “action plan to address the crisis,” according to the
event’s agenda.
The island, which owes creditors $72 billion, has proposed a
plan to restructure debt and impose austerity measures, but it
faces political hurdles, including the need for legislative
action from the U.S. government.
Puerto Rico is not high on the priority list of a
Republican-dominated Congress, and while there have been some
efforts on Capitol Hill to address the issue, they have
struggled to generate momentum.
If Wednesday’s meeting is outwardly designed to foster that
momentum, it may also serve as a key chance for politicians to
score points with Hispanic voters in Florida, a swing state that
is home to 987,663 Puerto Ricans, according to 2013 Census data.
Grayson, a Democrat, represents the district that includes
Orlando, and is running for Senate in 2016.
Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Puerto Rican-born New York City
Council speaker, will run Wednesday’s political strategy
session. As one of the most powerful politicians in a state that
is home to more than a million Puerto Ricans, Mark-Viverito has
made the island's fate a priority.
Organized in part by Puerto Rico’s federal affairs office in
Florida, the conference figures to attract leaders largely
allied with the island’s governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, a
Democrat and member of the party opposed to making Puerto Rico a
U.S. state.
Along with Grayson and Mark-Viverito, the key U.S. politicians
attending the conference - Reps. Jose Serrano, Luis Gutierrez
and Nydia Velazquez - are all Democrats.
Panels will address various topics including human rights,
climate change and healthcare. The latter is a particularly
passionate issue in Puerto Rico, which, as a U.S. commonwealth,
receives less federal Medicaid funding than U.S. states.
(Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Christian Plumb)
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