This is the fifth time that the issue has appeared on the list of matters to be discussed at the conference of the members of the highest judicial forum in the United States.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 - 2:15 p.m.
By José A. Delgado https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/los-jueces-del-tribunal-supremo-de-estados-unidos-vuelven-a-colocar-en-su-agenda-el-acceso-del-ssi-en-puerto-rico/
Washington D.C.- The Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court once again have on their conference agenda to discuss the Vaello Madero case that opens the door for Puerto Rico residents to access the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
Friday's conference represents the fifth occasion since late November that the issue has been on the list of matters to be discussed by the nine judges of the highest U.S. judicial forum.
Friday's meeting will take place as the Senate prepares to consider, beginning Monday, the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to be U.S. attorney general. Garland, nominated by President Joe Biden, would not be confirmed until sometime in the first weeks of March.
Observers believe that the U.S. Supreme Court justices may have delayed granting certiorari filed by the former Donald Trump administration pending the Joe Biden administration getting its Justice Department team in place and deciding whether to proceed with the case.
As a presidential candidate in September, Biden - in a tweet - promised to give the island access to SSI.
Biden's White House, however, has not commented on the matter, despite requests for information and political leaders on the island reminding him of his promise.
Before the election, then U.S. Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall asked the Supreme Court justices to reverse the decision of the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals that declared unconstitutional - for violating the Equal Protection of Laws clause - the exclusion of Puerto Rico residents from the SSI program, which could have an impact of nearly $1.8 billion annually.
When filing the petition for certiorari allowing the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether or not to review the First Circuit's decision, Wall asserted that "Congress has a legitimate interest in avoiding a unilateral fiscal relationship under which Puerto Rico shares the financial benefits, but not the financial burden of statehood, and declining to include Puerto Rico in the SSI program is a rational way to advance that interest."
The appeals court decision - which was written by the recently deceased Puerto Rican judge Juan Torruella - then upheld the determination of District Judge Gustavo Gelpí who concluded that José Luis Vaello Madero, who began receiving SSI as a New York resident, does not have to return $28,081 that he collected at a time when his domicile was already in Puerto Rico.