119-hr596

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 596 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 596

 To require a study relating to the consolidation of certain grant 
 programs currently available to insular areas and the suitability of 
 such consolidation for Puerto Rico, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 21, 2025

Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 
Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Meng, Mr. Espaillat, and Mr. 
 Hernandez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require a study relating to the consolidation of certain grant 
 programs currently available to insular areas and the suitability of 
 such consolidation for Puerto Rico, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Report on Grant Consolidation 
Authority for Puerto Rico Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    (a) Increased Burden on the Public Sector of Puerto Rico.--The 
Congress makes the following findings:

    (1) Puerto Rico faces a severe economic crisis, 
 characterized by the largest municipal bankruptcy in the United 
 States history, higher levels of poverty and socioeconomic 
 inequality when compared to the rest of the United States, and 
 a reduced labor force.

    (2) Puerto Rico is managing a large recovery and 
 reconstruction process prompted by hurricanes Irma, Maria, and 
 Fiona, the 2020 earthquakes, and the COVID pandemic.

    (3) The set of post-disaster conditions has exerted a great 
 burden on the public sector of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
 Public employees have had to comply with new fiscal 
 requirements imposed by the Financial Oversight and Management 
 Board under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic 
 Stability Act (``PROMESA''), handle historic allocations of 
 Federal funds, which involves engaging with new agencies, 
 programs, and requirements over time, and balance fiscal 
 constraints with the urgency to recruit specialized and full-
 time workforce for the best use of disaster funding.

    (b) Statement of 

=== Purpose ===
-It is the purpose of this Act to study 
the suitability of grant consolidation to minimize the burden upon the 
public sector of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and maximize its 
available resources to access Federal funding.

SEC. 3. STUDY REQUIRED.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
containing the results of a study on the process by which grants made 
available by the Federal Government are consolidated for insular areas 
pursuant to part 97 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations. Such 
report shall also contain the following:

    (1) An analysis, in consultation with appropriate officials 
 of local agencies in Puerto Rico, about the manner in which 
 such agencies currently access funding from programs that are 
 listed in 

section 97.12 of such part 97.

    (2) A list of each grant or other program that such 
 officials would recommend adding to the list of programs under 
 such 

section 97.12.

    (3) Any challenges noted by the Comptroller General or by 
 such officials relating to meeting the existing requirements 
 for obtaining funding for Puerto Rico from such listed 
 programs.

    (4) An assessment by the Comptroller General whether any of 
 the challenges described pursuant to paragraph

    (3) with respect 
 to existing requirements for obtaining funding would be 
 partially or wholly addressed by extending access to the 
 consolidation of such funding to Puerto Rico in the same manner 
 and to the same extent as the insular areas.

    (5) Any recommendations of such officials regarding the 
 manner in which that current process for access to such funding 
 should change, including recommendations relating to extending 
 access to the consolidation of such funding to Puerto Rico.

    (b) Access to Prompt and Complete Information.--Any official of 
Puerto Rico from whom the Comptroller General seeks information for 
purposes of the report required by subsection

    (a) shall promptly and 
comprehensively respond to such request for information, and in no case 
later than 90 days after the receipt of such a request. To the extent 
appropriate, the Comptroller General may interpret a lack of response, 
or a partial or incomplete response, to any such request for 
information adversely in compiling the report required by such 
subsection.
            (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--

    (1) the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on 
 Education and Labor, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
 of the House of Representatives; and

    (2) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the 
 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
 Senate.
 <all>