By The Star Staff
The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico will certify the commonwealth budget Friday during its 36th public meeting, which will be held virtually.
The oversight board will present the budgets for the upcoming fiscal year 2023, which starts Friday (July 1), for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, the Highway and Transportation Authority, the University of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co., the Municipal Revenues Collection Center, the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp., and the Public Corporation for Supervision and Insurance of Cooperatives of Puerto Rico.
The oversight board had given the island Legislature until Monday to approve a budget for the central government that was in compliance with the certified Fiscal Plan. On Sunday, David Skeel, the oversight board chairman, warned Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and legislative leaders in writing that the draft budget under discussion did not comply with the Fiscal Plan.
The island Senate on Wednesday approved the conference committee report on the budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 in the amount $12.4 billion. The House of Representatives did not have enough votes at dawn to approve the conference committee report, which created a single version of the bill.
The measure was slated to be reconsidered by the House Thursday afternoon. House Speaker Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez said he already had the votes to approve it. New Progressive Party lawmakers had voted against the bill because it was unbalanced, they said.