By Metro.pr - The two Puerto Rican unions affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the General Workers Union and the Puerto Rican Workers Union (SPT), joined in intervening as a friend of the court in the case United States v. Vaello Madero where the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program violates the Fifth Amendment clause of the U.S. Constitution. Vaello Madero where the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program violates the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Fifth Amendment by denying benefits to persons living in Puerto Rico who would qualify for them.
In February 2019, Chief Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico ruled that "Puerto Rico's exclusion in the Social Security Act violates equal protection of the laws and due process of law," a decision that was affirmed in April 2020 by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. Both decisions were appealed by the federal Department of Justice.
The brief filed before the high judicial forum is aimed at responding to the position taken by the U.S. Government, which argues that there is a rational basis for excluding Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because the island's fiscal autonomy allows the local government to decide, independently, to provide more help to the poor and needy without having to resort to the federal program.
Its opposition to extending the program to Puerto Rico also argues that the federal Congress acted rationally in excluding Puerto Rico from SSI because of fears that the income Puerto Ricans would receive from equal treatment would have a negative effect on the local economy.
In response to these arguments, the written statement submitted by the unions argues about "the erroneousness of these assumptions and evidences, with precise data and concrete facts, the invalidity of the premises indicated for not granting the aid to the citizens residing on the Island".
The brief states that the PROMESA Act and the Fiscal Control Board have "significantly limited the Commonwealth's power of self-government and the aforementioned fiscal autonomy. It is specified that if the Government of Puerto Rico wanted to reprogram funds to provide more economic assistance to the needy, the Board would prevent it and impose the fiscal priorities defined by the agency through the Fiscal Plan mechanism.
It also states and argues that the Island's precarious economy does not even allow for the possibility of generating excess tax revenues. It is clearly stated that, if for any particular circumstance the Government of Puerto Rico were to raise an additional amount of revenue, the Fiscal Control Board would also reprogram such funds to pay the debt and would in no way allow them to be distributed to those who qualify to receive the aid.
Finally, it was argued that extending SSI benefits to Puerto Rico would be positive, not only for the 465,000 people who benefit from it, but also for the entire local economy, which would receive an injection of money that would contribute positively to reduce the poverty rate on the Island, help limit emigration and could even reduce the risk of Puerto Rico falling back into bankruptcy in the coming years, as has been anticipated by prestigious economists and advisors to the Board itself.
Source: https://www.metro.pr/pr/noticias/2021/09/03/uniones-intervienen-ante-supremo-federal-caso-del-ssi-puerto-rico.html