New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and members of the New York congressional delegation are calling on Congress to pass a $94 billion aid package for Puerto Rico.
Cuomo says the Republican tax proposals would hurt the rebuilding effort, and that they treat the island like a foreign nation.
“Why when Puerto Rico is struggling, why you would want to pass a tax bill that now makes a bad situation worse…defies the imagination.”
Because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, its economy is based on the tax advantages it could offer American companies. The GOP plan would change that by imposing a 20 percent federal excise tax on goods purchased from Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló says this could hurt more than 30 percent of the island’s revenue and could cost the island over 250,000 jobs.