Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón met Thursday with Robert F. Mujica, executive director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board (the Oversight Board), a day after the board questioned in a letter several government and Legislature measures that have no identified funding source. González Colón wrote on social media that she met with Mujica, Chief of Staff Norma Burgos and her fiscal team to discuss priority matters, including the challenges and needs of the electric system and other fiscal issues.
"At the same time, new recurring expenses continue to be proposed without any recurring source to pay for them," Mujica said.
Her post does not say whether the letter’s objections were discussed. In Wednesday’s letter, addressed to the governor, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz and House Speaker Carlos "Johnny" Méndez Núñez, Mujica asked that the temporary suspension of the sales and use tax (IVU) on prepared foods not take effect until the board completes its review.
The governor announced the measure on Friday, October 23. It would run from November 1 to December 31 and cost the treasury $56.8 million, according to a preliminary Treasury Department estimate. "The suspension should not take effect before that review is completed," Mujica said.
The board noted the topic was not discussed at an October 21 meeting with the government, two days before the announcement. The letter also flagged a bill to raise pensions costing over $230 million a year, collective-bargaining raises exceeding $100 million, and unreported debts of the Education Department. It warned that current federal Medicaid funding levels expire in fiscal year 2028 with no contingency plan.
"At the same time, new recurring expenses continue to be proposed without any recurring source to pay for them," Mujica said.