Rubio Joins Menendez, Coleagues in Re-introducing Legislation to Ensure Puerto Ricans Have Access to Same Transparency and Disclosure Practices Required in U.S. Mainland Bankruptcy Cases

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in reintroducing the Puerto Rico Recovery Accurate in Disclosures Act (PRRADA). This bipartisan and bicameral legislation would impose robust disclosure requirements on all of the Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board's advisers and consultants, closing a loophole in existing law that currently disadvantages the people of Puerto Rico. PRRADA would require vendors to disclose potential conflicts of interests, ensuring that the people of Puerto Rico have access to the same transparency and disclosure practices required by law in U.S. mainland bankruptcy cases.

In 2016, Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) to set up an orderly bankruptcy process to restructure the island's debts, pay off creditors, approve infrastructure projects, and stimulate economic development. At the time, the law failed to add a requirement for advisers and consultants to disclose their own conflicts of interests with the variety of creditors to whom Puerto Rico owes $123 billion.

Companion legislation, H.R. 1192, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), David Cicilline (D-RI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR). The House passed H.R. 1192 on February 24, 2021 by a vote of 429-0.

"I'm proud to re-join this bicameral and bicameral effort to fix this existing loophole," Rubio said. "Under PRRADA we will ensure that our fellow Americans living in Puerto Rico have both transparency and accountability, which is critical to ensuring that the island's restructuring process is successful."

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