SSI parity for Puerto Rico is on hold The U.S. Government is supposed to say next week whether or not to proceed with the challenge that the Trump Administration began.

https://www.noticel.com/tribunales/ahora/gobierno/20210530/en-veremos-la-paridad-en-ssi-para-puerto-rico/?fbclid=IwAR1xqiIzRiZxcAvMdcvc-n3davd1jPcdpaLjb3TmbX1N05SjMSlglejH8wU

The U.S. Solicitor General's Office asked the federal Supreme Court for more time to submit its position on the Trump Administration's challenge to the decision granting parity to U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI, a Social Security program).

The request for additional time was submitted by Acting Attorney General Elizabeth B. Prelogar in the case of US v Vaello Madero on Thursday, a day before President Joe Biden announced that his budget proposal for the next fiscal year calls for Congress to legislate parity for U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico under SSI and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In addition, it called for eliminating the Medicaid funding caps for all territories, including Puerto Rico.

Pierluisi, however, did not label the decision to keep the lawsuit alive before the federal Supreme Court as a breach of Biden's campaign promise to guarantee parity for Puerto Rico in benefits such as SSI, SNAP and Medicaid.

In his budget proposal submitted to Congress two weeks ago, Biden requested that the territories be guaranteed parity in all three areas.

"He is reaffirming that he wants us to receive that benefit and telling Congress to include us. He included it in his budget request. He is fulfilling his promise in that sense," Pierluisi said.

After learning of the Biden administration's decision, the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Puerto Rico, Rafael "Tatito" Hernandez, thundered against the announcement.

"We regret that the Department of Justice of the Democratic administration gives continuity to the discriminatory vision towards Hispanic minorities, by deciding to retake the Vaello-Madero case, which was originally filed under the Trump administration," said the legislator, who anticipated that he will submit to the U.S. Supreme Court a brief to record the position of the House of Representatives.

The case that remains before the Supreme Court consists of a lawsuit filed by José Luis Vaello Madero, who lived in New York from 1985 to 2013, where he received SSI disability benefits. Upon moving to Puerto Rico, he continued to receive the deposits in his New York bank account, but in 2016 the U.S. government initiated a recovery action against him before the U.S. District Court.

The federal government asked Vaello Madero to repay some $28,081 in SSI benefits.