June 13, 2016
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently cited in The Hill speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.
Supreme Court Rules Puerto Rico Can't Restructure Debt
By: Lydia Wheeler
“'I think what the decision makes clear is the only real option on the table right now is congressional action,' said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA. 'Now that the House has passed legislation, it’s incumbent on the Senate to pass its version of the legislation.'
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June 10, 2016
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured on NBC Latino speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.
Debt Bill Pays Some Attention to Puerto Rico's High Child Poverty Rate
By: Suzanne Gamboa
"In an interview with NBC Latino before the bill’s passage, LeCompte said it was key to first put in place the tools needed to put Puerto Rico on a path to fiscal stability and to get started on its debt restructuring. The restructuring would help stave off further austerity measures that have been taken as the fiscal crisis has worsened, because that has created tougher conditions for children already living in poverty."
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May 23, 2016
Jubilee USA was recently noted in New York Magazine for our work in Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.
Bernie Sanders Calls on Democrats to Kill the Puerto Rico Debt Deal
By: Eric Levitz
"But there’s a strong argument for not letting the democratically legitimate become the enemy of the good. True, the current deal enjoys the support of such nefarious right-wing organizations as Americans for Tax Reform, but it also has the backing of the Jubilee USA Network, which represents virtually all of Puerto Rico’s religious leaders."
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May 20, 2016
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently cited in The Huffington Post speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.
Progressives Still Don’t Like The Puerto Rico Bill
By: Laura Barron-Lopez and Daniel Marans
"Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, a religious anti-poverty group and proponent of restructuring Puerto Rico’s debt, endorsed the bill while acknowledging it is not 'perfect.'
LeCompte argued that even the threat of court-supervised restructuring would create an incentive for parties to reach a voluntary agreement to put Puerto Rico’s debt on a sustainable path.
The bill contains other provisions that give Puerto Rico’s government more leverage over creditors, LeCompte said. He described an 'innovative' clause that would require all creditors in a given bond pool to proceed with a voluntary restructuring deal if the lenders holding two-thirds of that pool’s bonds agreed to it. This would prevent a small number of holdouts from blocking a resolution, he said — something that was a problem in Argentina and other countries plagued by sovereign debt crises.
'Speaker Ryan (R-Wis.), Chairman Bishop (R-Utah) and Rep. Duffy (R-Wis.) have really strongly stood against the special interests,' LeCompte said. 'It is really pretty amazing that they put the people of Puerto Rico first and a small group of creditors second.'"
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April 27, 2016
Jubilee USA was recently featured in The Huffington Post for our work on Puerto Rico's debt crisis. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.
Hispanic Evangelicals: Puerto Rico Demands Action
By: Gabriel Salguero
"Mired in more than $70 billion in debt, Puerto Rico is cutting education, health care and law enforcement funding to pay its creditors. According to the religious development coalition Jubilee USA, nearly 60% of Puerto Rico’s children live in poverty and 80% live in “high-poverty areas,” compared to just 11% on the US mainland. The only children’s hospital on the island cut its budget 14%. The debt is simply not payable but without Congressional intervention, Puerto Rico is stuck in no-man’s land - unable to access bankruptcy protection because it isn’t a state and unable to get emergency loans from the IMF or World Bank because it isn’t a country."
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April 27, 2016
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently quoted in Politico speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.
Unions Pressure Dems over Pensions on Puerto Rico Bill
By: Rachel Bade, John Bresnahan and Colin Wilhelm
"Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Jubilee USA network, which counts the AFL-CIO as a member, felt confident that Democrats would heed unions’ calls: 'I think the pension issue overall is going to be a sticking point. … I think it’s quite possible we’ll see some protections for pensions in the final legislation.'”
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