Report on Grant Consolidation Authority for Puerto Rico Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3390 To require a study relating to the consolidation of certain grant programs currently available to insular areas and the suitability of such consolida- tion for Puerto Rico, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2023 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To require a study relating to the consolidation of certain grant programs currently available to insular areas and the suitability of such consolidation for Puerto Rico, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Report on Grant Con- 4 solidation Authority for Puerto Rico Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3390.IH H3390 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3390 IH SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF 1 PURPOSE. 2 (a) INCREASED BURDEN ON THE PUBLIC SECTOR OF 3 PUERTO RICO.—The Congress makes the following find- 4 ings: 5 (1) Puerto Rico faces a severe economic crisis, 6 characterized by the largest municipal bankruptcy in 7 the United States history, higher levels of poverty 8 and socioeconomic inequality when compared to the 9 rest of the United States, and a reduced labor force. 10 (2) Puerto Rico is managing a large recovery 11 and reconstruction process prompted by hurricanes 12 Irma, Marı´a, and Fiona, the 2020 earthquakes, and 13 the COVID pandemic. 14 (3) The set of post-disaster conditions has ex- 15 erted a great burden on the public sector of the 16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Public employees 17 have had to comply with new fiscal requirements im- 18 posed by the Financial Oversight and Management 19 Board under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Manage- 20 ment, and Economic Stability Act (‘‘PROMESA’’), 21 handle historic allocations of Federal funds, which 22 involves engaging with new agencies, programs, and 23 requirements over time, and balance fiscal con- 24 straints with the urgency to recruit specialized and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3390.IH H3390 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3390 IH full-time workforce for the best use of disaster fund- 1 ing. 2 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of 3 this Act to study the suitability of grant consolidation to 4 minimize the burden upon the public sector of the Com- 5 monwealth of Puerto Rico and maximize its available re- 6 sources to access Federal funding. 7 SEC. 3. STUDY REQUIRED. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 10 of the United States shall submit to the appropriate con- 11 gressional committees a report containing the results of 12 a study on the process by which grants made available 13 by the Federal Government are consolidated for insular 14 areas pursuant to part 97 of title 45, Code of Federal 15 Regulations. Such report shall also contain the following: 16 (1) An analysis, in consultation with appro- 17 priate officials of local agencies in Puerto Rico, 18 about the manner in which such agencies currently 19 access funding from programs that are listed in sec- 20 tion 97.12 of such part 97. 21 (2) A list of each grant or other program that 22 such officials would recommend adding to the list of 23 programs under such section 97.12. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3390.IH H3390 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3390 IH (3) Any challenges noted by the Comptroller 1 General or by such officials relating to meeting the 2 existing requirements for obtaining funding for 3 Puerto Rico from such listed programs. 4 (4) An assessment by the Comptroller General 5 whether any of the challenges described pursuant to 6 paragraph (3) with respect to existing requirements 7 for obtaining funding would be partially or wholly 8 addressed by extending access to the consolidation of 9 such funding to Puerto Rico in the same manner 10 and to the same extent as the insular areas. 11 (5) Any recommendations of such officials re- 12 garding the manner in which that current process 13 for access to such funding should change, including 14 recommendations relating to extending access to the 15 consolidation of such funding to Puerto Rico. 16 (b) ACCESS TO PROMPT AND COMPLETE INFORMA- 17 TION.—Any official of Puerto Rico from whom the Comp- 18 troller General seeks information for purposes of the re- 19 port required by subsection (a) shall promptly and com- 20 prehensively respond to such request for information, and 21 in no case later than 90 days after the receipt of such 22 a request. To the extent appropriate, the Comptroller Gen- 23 eral may interpret a lack of response, or a partial or in- 24 complete response, to any such request for information ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3390.IH H3390 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3390 IH versely in compiling the report required by such sub- 1 section. 2 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 3 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 4 sional committees’’ means— 5 (1) the Committee on Natural Resources, the 6 Committee on Education and Labor, and the Com- 7 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 8 Representatives; and 9 (2) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 10 sources and the Committee on Health, Education, 11 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3390.IH H3390 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB