{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://sablan.house.gov/kilili-proposes-improvement-medicaid-implementation-earned-income-tax-credit-program-nmi", "Kilili proposes improvement of Medicaid, implementation of Earned Income Tax Credit program in NMI", "2016-03-01", "2016", "2016-03", "Independent", "Senate", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Marianas Variety -- U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan says Puerto Rico\u2019s fiscal crisis is a chance to improve Medicaid and implement the Earned Income Tax Credit program in the CNMI.\nIn a statement during a committee hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the U.S. Department of the Treasury\u2019s analysis of the situation in Puerto Rico, Kilili noted that the Caribbean island \u201cis defaulting on its debt, something that has not occurred in my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, or other U.S. insular areas.\u201d\nBut he said the CNMI government has recently \u201chad to scrape together $1.8 million to pay its retirees after cutting their bimonthly pensions by 25 percent\u2026. [And] there remains an unfunded pension liability in the hundreds of millions of dollar.\u201d\nPuerto Rico has more than $70 billion in outstanding debt.\nAccording to Kilili, \u201cWhat is happening now in Puerto Rico should be a warning of what could happen in other U.S. insular areas. And it would be wise policy and an exercise in foresight to address root causes of the fiscal problems in all the islands, when we address the problem in Puerto Rico.\u201d\nKilili said the Treasury and the Obama administration have already put one idea on the table that would help with solvency in all the insular areas.\n\u201cThe idea is to bring the islands closer to the national Medicaid program in which the federal government pays more of state healthcare costs, depending on the proportion of low income persons in that state.\n\u201cThe islands bear a disproportionate share of those Medicaid costs and this burden contributes to fiscal stress and reduces the quality of health care in the insular areas.\n\u201cTreasury proposed in its Puerto Rico roadmap last fall that Congress remove the cap on Medicaid and increase the federal Medicaid match for Puerto Rico. And the president confirmed in his budget submission this month that it is intended that this Medicaid reform apply to all the U.S. insular areas. I support that proposal.\u201d\nThe congressman said there is one other policy reform that would improve the fiscal situation in all the islands and this is the extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit or EITC.\n\u201cThere is broad agreement on both sides of the aisle that the EITC is a policy that supports economic growth and thus, improves the fiscal health of a community. [Republican] Speaker [Paul] Ryan is a fan, because the EITC, unlike conventional welfare programs, rewards work. It encourages those who are unemployed to get a job, support themselves and their families, and become contributing members of society.\u201d\nKilili said this has been proposed by the administration both in the Treasury roadmap and in the president\u2019s budget for fiscal year 2017 using the EITC to bring people into the workforce in Puerto Rico but not in any of the other insular areas.\nRecently, \u201cat the annual meeting of the Interagency Group on Insular Affairs, the administration explained that extending the Earned Income Tax Credit to the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands was not necessary because those areas are not in dire straits,\u201d Kilili said.\n\u201cI ask you, do we have to see an insular area in fiscal collapse before we take action? Or do we help avoid the kind of problem we now have in Puerto Rico by taking action to treat U.S. citizens living in all the insular areas more like they would be treated if they lived in any U.S. state?\n\u201cMy fellow delegates from American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are co-sponsors of my legislation, H.R. 4309, that would provide federal support for the Earned Income Tax Credit in our jurisdictions. And I strongly recommend that this committee assure that in any legislation addressing the fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico and including reform of the Medicaid program and extension of EITC to Puerto Rico, all of the Insular areas we represent be equally included.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://sablan.house.gov/kilili-proposes-improvement-medicaid-implementation-earned-income-tax-credit-program-nmi"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7961180526763201, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}