Teachers rip PPP bill as unconstitutional

Privatization has been an on going problem in Puerto Rico. Since the Spanish-American war Puerto Rico has been fighting against the onslaught of Private Interest. From turning Puerto Rico's beaches into private owned property to establishing golf resorts for Rich Buisness man. Luis Fortuno is currently the governor of the commonwealth but since he has been in power a majority of Puerto Ricans are not satisfied with his plans to layoff thousands and create private schools.-Don Famoso Reporting

Teachers rip PPP bill as unconstitutional
By CB Online Staff
Teachers Federation President Rafael Feliciano said Saturday the union would “shred” proposed legislation that would set guidelines for the establishment of public-private alliances (PPPs).
During testimony during a public hearing at the Capitol, Feliciano charged that the PPP measure was unconstitutional and would lead to the privatization of the island’s public schools.
“As it is this bill is unconstitutional and I think it should be scrapped. We are not going to allow the privatization of our schools and I am issuing a warning that the Teachers Federation are going to get involved because a law that is unjust we have to take apart,” Feliciano told members of the House Government Committee during the second day of hearings on the PPP measure.
Reyes Rodríguez, a representative of the rival Teachers Association, agreed with Feliciano.
“Unfortunately, the PPP legislation could destroy our island’s public schools as established under Section 5 of the Commonwealth Constitution,” Rodríguez said.
Among the more than two amendments added to the bill before it was passed by the Senate early this week was language that would allow educational institutions to operate as PPPs if the contract is with a workers cooperative, an employee-owned corporation or nonprofit organization.
The original bill limited PPPs in education to the construction and maintenance of schools, leaving academic issues out of the equation.
The teachers unions argued that the Constitution allows only the government to run public schools, establishing that “neither public funds nor property can be used for the support of schools or educational institutions that are not owned by the state.”
“I think the framers of the Constitution established that public education cannot be a business, not even in appearance,” Feliciano said.
The Teachers Federation and Teachers Association also spoke out against allowing nonprofits or worker-owned cooperatives and corporations to administer public schools under the proposed PPP legislation.
Feliciano said the organizations could be “groups of people who have concepts of education that are plenty dangerous.”
Popular Democratic Party Rep. Jorge Colberg Toro characterized the bill as “unsalvageable.”
House Government Committee Carlos “Johnny” Méndez said he has asked the Justice Department for an opinion on the constitutionality of the measure.
The House Government Committee was in the middle Saturday of three days of public hearings on the legislation to regulate the establishment of PPPs.
The bill, which was initially lodged by La Fortaleza more than two months ago, was heavily amended before being approved by the Senate earlier this week.
More than a dozen witnesses were expected to testify between Friday and Sunday.
The was to include the Office of Management and Budget, the Planning Board, the Manufacturers Association and the upstart Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico political party.
Representatives from the Private Sector Coalition, American Contractors Association and Cooperative Insurance and Supervision Corp. were also slated to be heard.
The hearings continued Saturday with leaders from a host of local labor organizations and unionized public workers testifying.
On Sunday, officials from the Government Development Bank, Labor Department and Government Ethics Office are expected to appear.
The hearings were scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. on each of the three days.
The bill passed in a majority vote in the upper chamber late Monday after two months of negotiation and a raft of amendments to the Fortuño administration bill hammered out by La Fortaleza, the Senate and the House.
The measure was approved with 20 votes in favor by the majority New Progressive Party delegation and seven votes against by the Popular Democratic Party delegation. PDP Sen. Juan Eugenio Hernández Mayoral abstained.
The measure is a cornerstone of Gov. Luis Fortuño’s fiscal and economic recovery plan. The governor has said PPPs are vital to undertake costly infrastructure works that the cash-strapped central government simply cannot afford. Critics, including public labor unions, charge the bill is a bid to privatize essential services.
Among the amendments was to substitute the Planning Board president in place of the Labor Department secretary as part of the five-member Public-Private Partnership Authority, which the legislation will create to approve specific PPP projects. The authority can approve decisions by a supermajority of four of five of its members.
The board’s five members would also include the Government Development Bank president and the Treasury secretary. The other two members would represent the public interest and would be selected by the House speaker and the Senate president subject to approval from La Fortaleza.
The measure allows any commonwealth agency, public corporation, central government or municipal entity and the legislative and judicial branches to establish a PPP.
Another amendment would allow city halls to establish pay deals or municipal tax breaks for PPPs.
The Public-Private Partnership Authority is prohibited from transferring title of public property to private individuals or entities, but some installations developed by a contracted business may remain under title of the private concern over the life of the PPP.

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