The Struggles of an American Territory
The United States is a massive country organized into a series of states in which its citizens can vote and must pay taxes, but with America’s size come some exceptions to the rule. Puerto Rico is one of these exceptions. Ceded by Spain at the end of the Spanish-American war, Puerto Rico is now an island housing roughly 3.2 million US citizens, but due to the territory status of their island, they aren’t granted the voting rights citizens of bona fide states are afforded. The recent history of Puerto Rico has been colored with tragedy, but a change to the territory’s spending may be a new beginning for the battered island.
Puerto Rico’s spending has been at the heart of its decline since even before the natural disasters begun. A combination of monetary mismanagement and overborrowing had already buried its government in insurmountable debts- only for natural disaster to tip them over the edge. With the arrival of Hurricane Irma and Maria, as well as the pandemic, the island’s economy was thoroughly obliterated, and population set to a declining state. With no money of its own, the island relied heavily on aid from the federal government, which was delayed excessively. Puerto Rico, completely unable to recover, desperately sought bankruptcy so that it might begin rebuilding, but territories are not actually allowed to declare bankruptcy. Only in January did a federal judge finally approve a debt restructuring plan that might allow Puerto Rico to tackle its mountain of loans.
In order to get some rudimentary idea of how the average Nease student thinks Puerto Rico should or will move forward, I approached two juniors, Calkin Garg and Ian Canfield. Calkin Garg believes Puerto Rico deserves a place in the US government. “Unemployment rate and poverty rate… we’ll see those numbers improve.” Calkin believes great benefit will come from the debt restructuring. He completed the interview stating that, “They have the best shot [at becoming the 51st state]”. Ian Canfield was a bit more cautious. Also believing that statehood was a better route, Ian claims it would be “much more difficult for them to become independent due to their economy.”. However, Ian still has faith that the state has a path to recovery: “if you remove debt you have the opportunity for economic growth”. Ian stressed the importance of job programs and tax restructuring as a way to improve the situation.
The last question on Puerto Rico’s checklist would be whether to become a state. Statehood would allow Puerto Rico to gain the rights and political power of a state- allowing them to avoid collapse easier- but would close off any path to independence. The population seems split on supporting statehood, although recent votes would suggest a slight majority for statehood, turnout for those votes would instead suggest none of the known information is helpful. It is clear the population is unsure, but the federal government doesn’t seem any more eager. A bill to add Puerto Rico as a state was proposed in early 2021, but it was only reviewed twice, and never voted on. Whatever path Puerto Rico chooses to take, it is in the best interest for them to choose quickly. The past has shown how the status quo is insufficient in protecting the welfare of Puerto Ricans, so it is up to the federal and territory government to work out a solution before another tragedy befalls them.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/close-puerto-rico-ending-bankruptcy-are-3-things-know-rcna12657
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1522/text
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/puerto-rico-statehood-us-politics-democrats.html
