Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (D) signed a bill on Tuesday intended to decrease the territory’s debt by half, but critics fear it could result in harsh austerity measures, The Hill reported. The law permits Puerto Rico to decrease its debt by more than $30 billion, issue $10 billion worth of new debt and give roughly $7 billion in cash to individuals with bonds who have not been rewarded in almost five years, according to NBC News. The Puerto Rican Senate narrowly passed the bill in a 14-13 vote, which was followed by a 34-12 vote in the House. The fate of the law, however, remains unclear because the island's federal financial control board is not behind it, the network reported. “Despite great obstacles, today we have taken a big step forward to end the bankruptcy and leave the fiscal control board,” Pierluisi reportedly said in a statement. One of the main sticking points between Pierluisi and the control board regarding the law is a proposal to eliminate some public pensions, according to NBC News. The control board was looking to nix pensions that were larger than $1,500 a month by 8.5 percent — which would impact roughly 40,000 retirees — but the government would not get on board with legislation that proposed public pension cuts.
