Amendments to PROMESA Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6975 To amend the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act or ‘‘PROMESA’’, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SOTO, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Eco- nomic Stability Act or ‘‘PROMESA’’, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amendments to 4 PROMESA Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6975 IH Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Preventing conflicts of interest by oversight board. Sec. 4. Federal funding for operation of oversight board and title III pro- ceedings. Sec. 5. Funding for essential public services. Sec. 6. Funding to promote economic growth. Sec. 7. Funding for operation of the University of Puerto Rico. Sec. 8. Disclosure by professional persons employed by court order. Sec. 9. Disclosure by professional persons employed by debtor. Sec. 10. Access to information. Sec. 11. GAO report on expenditures and operation of oversight board. Sec. 12. Puerto Rico Infrastructure Revitalization repealed. Sec. 13. Territorial relief for unsecured public debt. Sec. 14. Puerto Rico Public Credit Comprehensive Audit Commission. Sec. 15. Severability clause. SEC. 3. PREVENTING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST BY OVER- 1 SIGHT BOARD. 2 (a) ELIGIBILITY FOR APPOINTMENTS.—Section 3 101(f)(2) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and 4 Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2121(f)(2)) is amended 5 to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(2) is not an officer, elected official, or em- 7 ployee of the territorial government, a candidate for 8 elected office of the territorial government, a former 9 elected official of the territorial government, has 10 never served in any official capacity in the territorial 11 government or in any of the municipal governments 12 or public corporations of the territorial government, 13 or financial institutions owned by the territorial gov- 14 ernment, and has never been an employee or director 15 of any corporation, company, or institution that sold, 16 purchased, or insured financial assets to or from the 17 territorial government.’’. 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6975 IH (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF OVERSIGHT 1 BOARD.—Section 103 of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Man- 2 agement, and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2123) 3 is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after the pe- 5 riod at the end the following: ‘‘An individual may 6 not serve as Executive Director if that individual has 7 served in an official capacity in the territorial gov- 8 ernment, in a municipal government or public cor- 9 poration of the territorial government, or in a finan- 10 cial institution owned by the territorial government, 11 or has been an employee or director of a corporation, 12 company, or institution that has sold financial assets 13 to, purchased financial assets from, or insured finan- 14 cial assets of the territorial government.’’; and 15 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol- 16 lows: 17 ‘‘(c) ETHICS BOARD.—Not later than 30 days after 18 the date of the enactment of the Amendments to 19 PROMESA Act of 2020, in the case of the Oversight 20 Board for Puerto Rico, or 30 days after the formation of 21 an Oversight Board, for an Oversight Board formed after 22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Oversight Board 23 shall designate an ethics board comprised of 3 nonexecu- 24 tive board members. The ethics board shall meet as need- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6975 IH ed, but not less than once every 6 months, to consider 1 the compliance of members, the Executive Director, em- 2 ployees, contractors, and subcontractors of the Oversight 3 Board with all applicable Federal laws regulating the con- 4 duct of the Oversight Board, including conflict of interest, 5 financial disclosure, and open government laws.’’. 6 (c) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS.—Sec- 7 tion 104(g) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, 8 and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2124(g)) is 9 amended by inserting ‘‘The total cost of contracts entered 10 into under this subparagraph for any fiscal year may not 11 exceed 5 percent of the total operating budget of an Over- 12 sight Board for that fiscal year.’’ after the period at the 13 end. 14 (d) ETHICS.—Section 109 of the Puerto Rico Over- 15 sight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (48 16 U.S.C. 2129) is amended— 17 (1) in subsection (a)— 18 (A) by striking ‘‘and staff’’ after ‘‘all mem- 19 bers’’ and inserting ‘‘, employees, contractors, 20 and sub-contractors’’; 21 (B) by inserting ‘‘, without exception’’ 22 after ‘‘United States Code’’; and 23 (C) after the period at the end, by insert- 24 ing ‘‘An individual may not serve on an Over- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6975 IH sight Board if that individual is in violation of 1 section 208 of title 18, United States Code.’’; 2 and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(c) FORMAL WRITTEN STATEMENT.—An individual, 5 including an individual under consideration for appoint- 6 ment or serving as a member of an Oversight Board on 7 the date of the enactment of this subsection, may not serve 8 as a member of an Oversight Board or as an Executive 9 Director unless the individual— 10 ‘‘(1) has issued a formal statement regarding 11 that individual’s past and present compliance, and 12 intent of future compliance with all applicable Fed- 13 eral laws regulating the individual’s conduct, includ- 14 ing conflict of interest, financial disclosure, and open 15 government laws; and 16 ‘‘(2) has committed in writing to strictly abide 17 by section 208 of title 18, United States Code, and 18 other applicable Federal laws regulating their con- 19 duct, including conflict of interest, financial disclo- 20 sure, and open government laws. 21 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL LOBBYING.—Section 1913 of title 18, 22 United States Code, shall apply to all funds made available 23 to members and staff of an Oversight Board without re- 24 gard to the source of such funds. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6975 IH ‘‘(e) ANNUAL ETHICS REPORT.—Not later than May 1 15 each year, the Executive Director and each member 2 of an Oversight Board shall file a report with the ethics 3 board. Such annual reports shall— 4 ‘‘(1) be posted by the ethics board on the public 5 electronic website of an Oversight Board not later 6 than June 1st of each year; 7 ‘‘(2) be filed in accordance with— 8 ‘‘(A) the Ethics in Government Act of 9 1978; and 10 ‘‘(B) the Stop Trading on Congressional 11 Knowledge Act of 2012; and 12 ‘‘(3) include information detailing the following 13 with regard to the individual during the year for 14 which the report is filed: 15 ‘‘(A) Income of the individual. 16 ‘‘(B) Honoraria given to the individual. 17 ‘‘(C) Assets held by the individual. 18 ‘‘(D) Financial transactions by the indi- 19 vidual. 20 ‘‘(E) Financial liabilities of the individual. 21 ‘‘(F) Positions held by the individual. 22 ‘‘(G) Agreements to which the individual is 23 a part. 24 ‘‘(H) Travel taken by the individual. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6975 IH ‘‘(I) Gifts received by the individual. 1 ‘‘(J) Other details required pursuant to 2 paragraph (2).’’. 3 (e) REQUIRED REPORTS.—Section 208 of the Puerto 4 Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act 5 (48 U.S.C. 2148) is amended by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL ETHICS REPORT.— 8 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later 9 than June 30th of each year, the ethics board shall 10 submit a report detailing compliance by members, 11 employees, contractors, and subcontractors of an 12 Oversight Board with section 109 directly to— 13 ‘‘(A) the President; 14 ‘‘(B) the House of Representatives Com- 15 mittee on Natural Resources; and 16 ‘‘(C) the Senate Committee on Energy and 17 Natural Resources. 18 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENT.—Mem- 19 bers, employees, contractors, or subcontractors of an 20 Oversight Board may not— 21 ‘‘(A) view any part of a report compiled or 22 being compiled to comply with this subsection 23 before that report is submitted under para- 24 graph (1); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6975 IH ‘‘(B) delay submission of the report com- 1 piled or being compiled to comply with this sub- 2 section; and 3 ‘‘(C) attempt to influence the ethics board 4 to make any change to the content of a report 5 compiled or being compiled to comply with this 6 subsection.’’. 7 SEC. 4. FEDERAL FUNDING FOR OPERATION OF OVER- 8 SIGHT BOARD AND TITLE III PROCEEDINGS. 9 Section 107 of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Manage- 10 ment, and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2127) is 11 amended— 12 (1) by striking subsection (b); and 13 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 14 lowing new subsections: 15 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro- 16 priated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the 17 operations and proceedings of an Oversight Board under 18 title III. 19 ‘‘(c) REMISSION OF EXCESS FUNDS.—If an Over- 20 sight Board determines, in its sole discretion, that funds 21 made available to an Oversight Board for the operations 22 and proceedings of an Oversight Board under title III ex- 23 ceed the amount required for those operations and pro- 24 ceedings during a fiscal year, the excess funds shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6975 IH remitted by the Executive Director to the Department of 1 the Treasury not later than 30 days after the end of the 2 fiscal year.’’. 3 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR ESSENTIAL PUBLIC SERVICES. 4 Section 201(b)(1)(B) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, 5 Management, and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 6 2141(b)(1)(B)) is amended— 7 (1) by inserting ‘‘full’’ before ‘‘funding’’; and 8 (2) by inserting ‘‘, including public education, 9 public safety, health care, and pensions’’ before the 10 semicolon. 11 SEC. 6. FUNDING TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH. 12 Section 201(b)(1)(J) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, 13 Management, and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 14 2141(b)(1)(J)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including in- 15 vestments and expenditures to increase the creation of new 16 jobs, reduce income inequality, increase gross national 17 product and gross domestic product, expand workforce de- 18 velopment programs, transition informal economic activity 19 to the formal sector, increase the median household in- 20 come, and reduce the number of residents living under the 21 poverty level’’ before the semicolon. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6975 IH SEC. 7. FUNDING FOR OPERATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 1 PUERTO RICO. 2 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title II of the Puerto Rico Over- 3 sight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (48 4 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 213. FUNDING FOR OPERATION OF THE UNIVERSITY 7 OF PUERTO RICO. 8 ‘‘Until the termination of the Oversight Board for 9 Puerto Rico pursuant to section 209, the Fiscal Plan for 10 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Fiscal Plan 11 for the University of Puerto Rico, developed under section 12 201, shall include an annual allocation of public funds to 13 the University of Puerto Rico in an amount calculated 14 under the funding formula of Law 2–1966 or 15 $800,000,000, whichever is greater, to allow the Univer- 16 sity of Puerto Rico to fulfill its major role as an essential 17 public service and to comply effectively with its obligations 18 and accreditation requirements.’’. 19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 20 of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic 21 Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by in- 22 serting after the item relating to section 212 the following: 23 ‘‘Sec. 213. Funding for Operation of the University of Puerto Rico.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6975.IH H6975 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6975 IH SEC. 8. DISCLOSURE BY PROFESSIONAL PERSONS EM- 1 PLOYED BY COURT ORDER. 2 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Title III of the Puerto Rico 3 Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (48 4 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 318. DISCLOSURE BY PROFESSIONAL PERSONS EM- 7 PLOYED BY COURT ORDER. 8 ‘‘(a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE.—In a voluntary case 9 commenced under section 304, an attorney, accountant, 10 appraiser, auctioneer, agent, consultant, or other profes- 11 sional person may not be compensated under section 316 12 unless, before making a request for compensation, such 13 a professional person submitted a verified statement con- 14 forming to the disclosure requirements of rule 2014(a) of 15 the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure setting forth 16 the professional person’s connections with— 17 ‘‘(1) the debt, creditors, any other parties in in- 18 terest; 19 ‘‘(2) the attorneys and accountants of any per- 20 son or entity listed pursuant to paragraph (1); 21 ‘‘(3) an Oversight Board; 22 ‘‘(4) any person employed by an Oversight 23 Board; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]