A lawsuit filed by Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board over a new pension and healthcare funding law will move forward after a federal judge on Thursday denied the U.S. commonwealth’s motion to dismiss the case, Reuters reported. The litigation, which marked the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle between the board and the government over spending priorities, targets a law that transfers hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal pension and healthcare costs to the bankrupt Puerto Rico government. U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain rejected arguments by the island’s government that the lawsuit cites faulty claims based on the 2016 federal PROMESA Act, which created the board and a bankruptcy-like process to restructure about $120 billion of Puerto Rico’s debt and pension obligations. Judge Swain, who is hearing the island’s bankruptcy cases, ordered the lawsuit to proceed. A fiscal 2020 budget passed by Puerto Rico lawmakers included funding for local pensions and health insurance costs to aid cash-strapped municipalities despite warnings from the board that so-called Law 29, which enabled the move, is inconsistent with its fiscal plan. The board’s lawsuit seeks to void the law, contending it would impair the PROMESA Act by diverting hundreds of millions of dollars Puerto Rico’s government could otherwise use to spur economic growth.
