In December 2009, the government of Puerto Rico enacted a new law (Law 191 of 2009) aimed at strengthening the issuance and usage of birth certificates to combat fraud and protect the identity and credit of all people born in Puerto Rico. The new law was based on collaboration with the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to address the fraudulent use of Puerto Rico-issued birth certificates to unlawfully obtain U.S. passports, Social Security benefits, and other federal services.

In the past, many common official and unofficial transactions in Puerto Rico unnecessarily required the submission, retention, and storage of birth certificates. As a result, hundreds of thousands of original birth certificates were stored without adequate protection, making them easy targets for theft. Subsequently, many birth certificates have been stolen from schools and other institutions, sold on the black market for prices up to $10,000 each, and used to illegally obtain passports, licenses, and other government and private sector documentation and benefits. The common Hispanic names of most individuals born in Puerto Rico made the birth certificates highly desirable on the black market. Read the rest of this entry »

Very glad to be with you all.  Muy buenas noches a todos.  It’s wonderful to see so many friends tonight.

The last time so many of us …in the great family of LULAC…were together like this was at the National Convention last summer in San Juan.  It was a great success. 

So much so, that after this winter in Washington, I’ve heard there may be a motion for LULAC’s next winter National Legislative Conference to be held in San Juan.

Now let me say this about that.  No matter how much colder it may be, we know that at this time each year, we gather in this majestic Nation’s Capital of ours for a reason.  It’s a reason that goes to the core of what LULAC is all about. 

We’re here because we share common bonds and common concerns for tens of millions of others throughout the Nation who are not with us tonight.  And we know their well being and their future depends a great deal on what we can do on their behalf here in Washington.

It’s the privilege of a lifetime to stand here with you, and with all those that are being honored tonight, as part of that common cause. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jose Alvarado Vega

PR DAILY SUN

U.S. Census Bureau officials said Monday that island residents will be receiving a simplified questionnaire for the 2010 Census in the next few weeks, as the agency launches an islandwide road tour calling on them to mail the forms back and encouraging hard-to-reach groups to participate.

The same questionnaire is used in Puerto Rico as in the states.

“We expect that with the shorter questionnaire for the 2010 Census, the proportion of people answering it will be greater [than in 2000],” Marilia Matos, U.S. Census director of field operations, said of the 10-question form that will focus on demographic information such as the make-up of families and their ages, race and ethnic group. Read the rest of this entry »

(Senate Bill No. 1182)

LAW

To adopt the “Law Prohibiting Public and Private Entities from Retaining, Storing, or Holding Certified Copies of Birth Certificates” [Ley para prohibir la retención, archivo y custodia de copias certificadas de certificados de nacimiento a entidades públicas y privadas], establish penalties for violations of said Law; set a timeframe for the invalidation or cancellation of birth certificates issued prior to July 1, 2010; and amend Articles 2 and 38 of Law No. 24 of April 22, 1931, as amended, known as the “Law on Vital Statistics” [Ley del Registro Demográfico] of Puerto Rico, for purposes of prohibiting any public or private entity from obtaining certified copies of birth certificates if so requested, as well as for purposes of providing for a procedure to be followed in the absence of vital statistics certificates, and for other purposes. Read the rest of this entry »

by Xavira Neggers Crescioni

PR DAILY SUN

The approximately $400 million in 20 infrastructure projects online for the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayagüez is either ready or near completion, and will be up by the time the games commence July 17, Gov. Fortuño said Wednesday.

The governor made the comments after meeting with the Interagency Committee spearheading preparations for the games and visiting the Sports and Recreation Department’s Training Center for High Performance Athletes in San Juan.

“The reason for all this is you the athletes,” Fortuño told members of group of 36 athletes who receive $2.5 million a year from the government to support their training, much less than say Colombia, which spends about $60 million a year to support its high performance athletes. Read the rest of this entry »

Puerto Rico Daily Sun

by Michelle Kantrow Vázquez

The Private Sector Coalition on Wednesday threw its support behind the island’s rum industry and asked authorities to take the necessary steps to prevent “excessive and unfair competition” if the Captain Morgan operations are transferred to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which they said will have a devastating effect on the economy.

Coalition Spokesman Francisco Rodríguez Castro said Puerto Rico relies heavily on the profits from the  taxes paid by the Puerto Rico’s rum manufacturers. The USVI’s rum industry is  “incipient and can afford to provide subsidies of up to 50 percent of the profits to attract investment.”

“But this is not possible in the case of Puerto Rico, whose coffers depend on these revenues and can only provide a 10 percent subsidy,” said Rodríguez Castro. Read the rest of this entry »

Bipartisan Panel Will Work with White House, DoD, DHS to Focus on

Homeland Security, National Guard Issues 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño has been appointed by President Obama to serve on his newly-created Council of Governors, a bipartisan group of 10 governors who will work in partnership with the White House, the Defense and Homeland Security Departments and other senior Administration officials on a range of homeland security issues facing the nation.

Gov. Fortuno was one of five Republican governors and five Democrat governors who were appointed to two-year terms on the Council.  According to the White House, the Council was created to further strengthen the partnership between federal, state and local governments to better protect the country.

Read the rest of this entry »

Puerto Rico Daily Sun

by Xavira Neggers Crescioni

Tax reform legislation the government plans to present and pass during the second half of the year will include tax cuts for everyone – both individuals from all classes and local companies – in Puerto Rico, Gov. Fortuño said Thursday upon presenting the team of officials he has charged with amending the island’s tax code.

“Whether or not they are in the middle-class, everyone is going to receive a tax cut, and that’s really the change that we have. We are going to reward those who work from sunup to sundown,” Fortuño said, adding island’s labor participation rate is 20 percent below that of the U.S. average. “I am convinced this is going to be an additional tool to push our economy forward.”

The tax reform has four aims: reducing the tax burden for all local individuals and corporations; rewarding work and success in the private sector; fostering economic development, both investment in and savings in Puerto Rico; and simplifying the tax system so that it is easier to use, Fortuño said. Read the rest of this entry »

Port Receives two Super Post-Panamax Cranes; Total Public Investment of $22.7 million

Ponce, P.R. — The Port of the Americas in Ponce took a giant step forward today with the recent arrival of two Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes. Puerto Rico Governor Luis G. Fortuño, Ponce Mayor María “Mayita” Meléndez and other government officials made up the welcoming committee at an event celebrating the cranes’ arrival.

“Today we receive two Super Post-Panamax cranes that were acquired through a $22.7-million investment financed by the Government Development Bank (GDB). With this acquisition, the Port of the Americas now has the capacity to become a major containerized cargo hub in the Caribbean,” said the governor. He added the acquisition is just one of the many objectives slated for completion as part of the current administration’s economic development plan for Puerto Rico, dubbed the Strategic Model for a New Economy (MENE by its Spanish acronym). Read the rest of this entry »