In addition, it calls for newly hired public workers to be enrolled in Social Security,
and for current public workers younger than 40 to enroll “to the extent practicable.”
The board was established by an act of Congress last year to guide Puerto Rico through a restructuring of its more than $70 billion of debt.
Puerto Rico, Mired in Debt, Has a New Rescue Plan -
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSHMARCH 13, 2017
Puerto Rico, reeling from a debt crisis lasting more than a year, reached an agreement Monday
that should set the stage for meaningful talks with its creditors, who hold more than $70 billion of defaulted debt.
But the governor remained unwilling to bend in three contentious areas: how much to cut pensions for retired government workers; whether to constrain the current public work force to two-
and four-day workweeks to save money; and whether to stop paying all public workers a Christmas bonus, in light of the fact that bondholders are not being paid.
To get the board’s provisional approval, Mr. Rosselló said he had to find ways to come up with $160 million more
in government revenue than he had in a previous version of the plan, which was rejected by the board Thursday.
In the board’s meeting in New York on Monday, it amended the governor’s plan so work could begin immediately on converting the existing
pension system to a pay-as-you-go system, in which the retirees’ benefits will be paid directly out of the government’s general fund.
