top
Americas
Americas
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Puerto Rico Debt Law Could Apply to US Virgin Islands

by Greg
A US law passed to address Puerto Rico's debt crisis could apply retroactively to the US Virgin Islands, another heavily indebted US territory.
The US Virgin Islands has higher debt-per-person levels than Puerto Rico and ratings agencies downgraded its debt to "junk" status in December. The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act became law in June and includes language allowing the government of the US Virgin Islands to opt into the law.

"People in the Virgin Islands are facing some of the same challenges that the people of Puerto Rico face," noted Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA. LeCompte testified to Congress and to Puerto Rico's oversight board on Puerto Rico's debt crisis. "What happens over the next few months with Puerto Rico will impact how other US territories deal with financial crisis."

Virgin Islands officials opposed last summer's Puerto Rico debt crisis legislation for fear that it could make it more difficult for the territory to borrow money. The territory has just over 100,000 residents compared to Puerto Rico's 3.5 million but owes $2.4 billion in debt, or $23,000 per person.

Territory officials want Congress to amend federal law to treat territories and states equally on tax and health care issues. The Puerto Rico legislation created a Congressional task force to examine those issues. The task force released a report in December recommending that Congress pass many of those changes.

"There are some immediate steps Congress can take to help the Virgin Islands," stated LeCompte, who serves on United Nations expert groups on debt and finance. "Ultimately, the Virgin Islands will need to restructure its debt."

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 650 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee USA builds an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA wins critical global financial reforms and won more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. http://www.jubileeusa.org
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network