Wednesday, September 9-15, 2020 - // no. 072
Puerto Rico and the Caribbean
www.theweeklyjournal.com
Medalla Light now available in NYC bars P6 Fitch lowers Banco Santander’s ratings P7 Congress deal on Coronavirus not likely P9
The Case for SNAP in Puerto Rico Public and private officials discuss the socioeconomic benefits of enhanced nutritional assistance
N
Giovanna Garofalo
YouTube for beginners P13
ggarofalo@elvocero.com
@giopgarofalo
ow that the U.S. Congress resumed its activities on Tuesday, September 8, members of the public and private sectors hope to reinstate dialogue over transitioning Puerto Rico from the Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP) to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) — a change that would drastically improve the livelihoods of a sizable portion of the population, as well as boosting the local and U.S. economies.
On May 13, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Equitable Nutrition Assistance for the Territories Act of 2020 to ensure that the people of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa receive equal access to SNAP. Presently, only states in the mainland and the U.S. Virgin Islands have access to that program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In Puerto Rico, the federal government sets a fund cap of $1.9 billion for NAP, whereas, under SNAP, the funds are determined by the needs of GO TO PAGE 4