A federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico's finances announced Friday that it will impose furloughs for the first time in the U.S. territory's history.
Furloughs of up to two days a month will start in September for all government employees except police.
The furloughs announcement comes on the heels of the anniversary of the island’s bailout.
One year ago, Congress voted to try to save Puerto Rico from a staggering $123 billion debt and pension crisis. They passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, known as PROMESA, and steered the commonwealth into bankruptcy-like proceedings to prevent a massive default.
But the plan had its critics, who said the plan wouldn’t solve the island’s core problems. So, a year later, has it worked?
We brought that question to Dr. Edwin Melendez, who runs the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. He’s been studying the economic impact of PROMESA and he says when Congress passed this law, Puerto Rico was really out of options.
