He sends a letter to Biden and urges socio-economic sectors to join the request.
By Nydia Bauzá January 24, 2021 https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/notas/presidente-de-la-camara-anuncia-ofensiva-por-el-programa-de-seguridad-de-ingreso-suplementario/
House Speaker Rafael "Tatito" Hernández announced today "an offensive" in Washington demanding that Puerto Rico be included in the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
Hernández said he sent a letter to recently sworn-in U.S. President Joe Biden requesting that his administration drop the appeal that outgoing President Donald Trump took to the U.S. Supreme Court in the lawsuit filed by Luis Vaello Madero.
"This is something that affects all Puerto Ricans. We all have a family member affected," Hernandez said at a press conference at the Capitol.
The Vaello Madero lawsuit is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court with a request by the Trump administration to reverse the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston and the Federal Court in San Juan that ruled that it is unconstitutional to exclude Puerto Rico residents from SSI solely because they live on the Island.
Hernandez called on "all organized socioeconomic sectors to communicate to Washington demanding this social justice program for all Puerto Ricans.
He said that the people who require SSI assistance "are below the poverty level, they are disabled and adults who cannot work". Hernandez recalled that according to the federal government's own estimates there are over 300,000 people.
"This goes to the heart of the neediest people in the island. We sent a letter to Biden asking him to address the issue and that Puerto Rico be considered on an equal footing," said the House Speaker, who does not believe that the issue of Puerto Rico's political status affects the case.
In its final arguments in the litigation, the U.S. Department of Justice argued that terroritorios such as Puerto Rico are not entitled to the program because they did not voluntarily enter the U.S. union through negotiation.
"Even though Biden favors statehood, he placed neutral language of the status process as one of binding self-determination," Hernandez said.
The case began with a lawsuit by the U.S. government against Vaello Madero, seeking repayment of the $28,081 she received from SSI after moving from New York to Puerto Rico. SSI pays an average of $575 a month to people over the age of 65, blind or with other disabilities who do not have the resources to support themselves.
According to documents filed by the federal government in court, if SSI is approved for Puerto Rico, approximately 300,000 residents of the island would be eligible to receive the benefit.
"We are calling on all socio-economic sectors of the Country to join in this effort and demand that the President demand that the federal government withdraw from the Vaello case. The Trump administration challenged Boston's determination and appealed with racist language that demonstrates the dark soul of Trump-led Republicans. Such language lacerates the Puerto Rican family. It is time for Joseph Biden to demonstrate with action his contrast in public policy regarding Puerto Rico. It is an action that does not require lobbying or the use of resources," the House leader said.
He argued that the claim is to automatically apply the decision of the First Circuit in Boston to Puerto Rico.
Hernandez called the arguments that Puerto Ricans do not pay federal taxes a fallacy. "We pay social security, Medicaid. We all pay 100 percent the same as in the United States... We are in the jurisdictions that contribute the most to the Treasury, there goes the discrimination and we do not have the benefit," he added.
He said that people who require SSI mostly suffer from a physical or mental condition that does not allow them to work. "The person can't produce and can't pay social security and the state has to help them. If they don't accept (the claim) we are going to have to intervene in the lawsuit and moving in court would cost a lot of money," Hernandez said.
He applauded resident commissioner Jenniffer González Colón joining the case at the Supreme Court as a friend of the court in 2019, but questioned why she did not raise her voice in the Boston Circuit.
"When Vaello's position prevails in the Circuit, (the Trump administration) appeals it with very discriminatory allegations that hurt Puerto Rican society and she had to distance herself from the administration's position and she did not do it. At that moment she had to stand up as she did quickly now," he said.
"It's never too late if happiness is good," but at the time she didn't even say hi. She became Mrs. Trump. You have to be consistent you can't be a weather vane," the Speaker added.
According to documents filed by the federal government in court, if SSI is approved for Puerto Rico, approximately 300,000 residents of the island would be eligible to receive the benefit.
As an argument against the eligibility of Puerto Rico residents, the U.S. Attorney General stated that, according to Social Security Administration estimates, eliminating the exclusion would cost the federal government between $1.8 billion to $2.4 billion per year, for an estimated impact of $23 billion over the next ten years.
He pointed out that unlike other states, Puerto Rico does not pay federal income taxes, which are used to pay for SSI.
The defense Vaello Madero claims in turn, that although the majority do not pay these taxes, Puerto Rico does contribute to the Treasury in federal contributions and that, in any case, this program is aimed precisely at assisting people who do not have sufficient income, so they do not pay taxes in any U.S. jurisdiction.