Puerto Rico bill delayed in the House again

Nevermind on having a draft of the reworked HR 4900 bill available today. Apparently the new draft of PROMESA did not receive a warm welcome from Democrats in the House.

The planned release of a reworked bill to assist the ailing territory was scrapped on Wednesday as the two parties slogged through lingering issues with the legislation.

House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said a bill would likely be coming Thursday, with a markup still on track for the following week. He said his staff and the Treasury Department were still working out details of the bill late Tuesday night, forcing the delay. 

“Apparently those talks went far into the night, and they asked for another 24 hours,” he told reporters. 

It’s just the latest rocky development on what has been an uphill climb for the bill. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) vowed to act on the island’s debt woes at the end of 2015, but the House has yet to move forward with a bill. 

It seems like the provisions that are causing the delays include the reduction of the minimum wage for those under 25 years of age. However, it seems pretty clear that the oversight board and its powers have been left intact, Puerto Rico’s objections notwithstanding.

Tomorrow then, we are supposed to have a draft. Stay tuned, but don’t hold your breath.