48 U.S.C. § 2144 (TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS)
§ 2144. Review of activities to ensure compliance with fiscal plan
(a) Submission of Legislative acts to Oversight Board
(1) Submission of acts
Except to the extent that the Oversight Board may provide otherwise in its bylaws, rules, and procedures, not later than 7 business days after a territorial government duly enacts any law during any fiscal year in which the Oversight Board is in operation, the Governor shall submit the law to the Oversight Board.
(2) Cost estimate; certification of compliance or noncompliance
The Governor shall include with each law submitted to the Oversight Board under paragraph (1) the following:
(A) A formal estimate prepared by an appropriate entity of the territorial government with expertise in budgets and financial management of the impact, if any, that the law will have on expenditures and revenues.
(B) If the appropriate entity described in subparagraph (A) finds that the law is not significantly inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan for the fiscal year, it shall issue a certification of such finding.
(C) If the appropriate entity described in subparagraph (A) finds that the law is significantly inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan for the fiscal year, it shall issue a certification of such finding, together with the entity’s reasons for such finding.
(3) Notification
The Oversight Board shall send a notification to the Governor and the Legislature if—
(A) the Governor submits a law to the Oversight Board under this subsection that is not accompanied by the estimate required under paragraph (2)(A);
(B) the Governor submits a law to the Oversight Board under this subsection that is not accompanied by either a certification described in paragraph (2)(B) or (2)(C); or
(C) the Governor submits a law to the Oversight Board under this subsection that is accompanied by a certification described in paragraph (2)(C) that the law is significantly inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan.
(4) Opportunity to respond to notification
(A) Failure to provide estimate or certification
After sending a notification to the Governor and the Legislature under paragraph (3)(A) or (3)(B) with respect to a law, the Oversight Board may direct the Governor to provide the missing estimate or certification (as the case may be), in accordance with such procedures as the Oversight Board may establish.
(B) Submission of certification of significant inconsistency with fiscal plan and budget
In accordance with such procedures as the Oversight Board may establish, after sending a notification to the Governor and Legislature under paragraph (3)(C) that a law is significantly inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan, the Oversight Board shall direct the territorial government to—
(i) correct the law to eliminate the inconsistency; or
(ii) provide an explanation for the inconsistency that the Oversight Board finds reasonable and appropriate.
(5) Failure to comply
If the territorial government fails to comply with a direction given by the Oversight Board under paragraph (4) with respect to a law, the Oversight Board may take such actions as it considers necessary, consistent with this chapter, to ensure that the enactment or enforcement of the law will not adversely affect the territorial government’s compliance with the Fiscal Plan, including preventing the enforcement or application of the law.
(6) Preliminary review of proposed acts
At the request of the Legislature, the Oversight Board may conduct a preliminary review of proposed legislation before the Legislature to determine whether the legislation as proposed would be consistent with the applicable Fiscal Plan under this subtitle,1 except that any such preliminary review shall not be binding on the Oversight Board in reviewing any law subsequently submitted under this subsection.
(b) Effect of approved fiscal plan on contracts, rules, and regulations
(1) Transparency in contracting
The Oversight Board shall work with a covered territory’s office of the comptroller or any functionally equivalent entity to promote compliance with the applicable law of any covered territory that requires agencies and instrumentalities of the territorial government to maintain a registry of all contracts executed, including amendments thereto, and to remit a copy to the office of the comptroller for inclusion in a comprehensive database available to the public. With respect to Puerto Rico, the term “applicable law” refers to 2 L.P.R.A. 97, as amended.
(2) Authority to review certain contracts
The Oversight Board may establish policies to require prior Oversight Board approval of certain contracts, including leases and contracts to a governmental entity or government-owned corporations rather than private enterprises that are proposed to be executed by the territorial government, to ensure such proposed contracts promote market competition and are not inconsistent with the approved Fiscal Plan.
(3) Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that any policies established by the Oversight Board pursuant to paragraph (2) should be designed to make the government contracting process more effective, to increase the public’s faith in this process, to make appropriate use of the Oversight Board’s time and resources, to make the territorial government a facilitator and not a competitor to private enterprise, and to avoid creating any additional bureaucratic obstacles to efficient contracting.
(4) Authority to review certain rules, regulations, and executive orders
The provisions of this paragraph shall apply with respect to a rule, regulation, or executive order proposed to be issued by the Governor (or the head of any department or agency of the territorial government) in the same manner as such provisions apply to a contract.
(5) Failure to comply
If a contract, rule, regulation, or executive order fails to comply with policies established by the Oversight Board under this subsection, the Oversight Board may take such actions as it considers necessary to ensure that such contract, rule, executive order or regulation will not adversely affect the territorial government’s compliance with the Fiscal Plan, including by preventing the execution or enforcement of the contract, rule, executive order or regulation.
(c) Restrictions on budgetary adjustments
(1) Submissions of requests to Oversight Board
If the Governor submits a request to the Legislature for the reprogramming of any amounts provided in a certified Budget, the Governor shall submit such request to the Oversight Board, which shall analyze whether the proposed reprogramming is significantly inconsistent with the Budget, and submit its analysis to the Legislature as soon as practicable after receiving the request.
(2) No action permitted until analysis received
The Legislature shall not adopt a reprogramming, and no officer or employee of the territorial government may carry out any reprogramming, until the Oversight Board has provided the Legislature with an analysis that certifies such reprogramming will not be inconsistent with the Fiscal Plan and Budget.
(3) Prohibition on action until Oversight Board is appointed
(A) During the period after a territory becomes a covered territory and prior to the appointment of all members and the Chair of the Oversight Board, such covered territory shall not enact new laws that either permit the transfer of any funds or assets outside the ordinary course of business or that are inconsistent with the constitution or laws of the territory as of June 30, 2016, provided that any executive or legislative action authorizing the movement of funds or assets during this time period may be subject to review and rescission by the Oversight Board upon appointment of the Oversight Board’s full membership.
(B) Upon appointment of the Oversight Board’s full membership, the Oversight Board may review, and in its sole discretion, rescind, any law that—
(i) was enacted during the period between, with respect to Puerto Rico, May 4, 2016; or with respect to any other territory, 45 days prior to the establishment of the Oversight Board for such territory, and the date of appointment of all members and the Chair of the Oversight Board; and
(ii) alters pre-existing priorities of creditors in a manner outside the ordinary course of business or inconsistent with the territory’s constitution or the laws of the territory as of, in the case of Puerto Rico, May 4, 2016, or with respect to any other territory, 45 days prior to the establishment of the Oversight Board for such territory;
but such rescission shall only be to the extent that the law alters such priorities.
(d) Implementation of Federal programs
In taking actions under this chapter, the Oversight Board shall not exercise applicable authorities to impede territorial actions taken to—
(1) comply with a court-issued consent decree or injunction, or an administrative order or settlement with a Federal agency, with respect to Federal programs;
(2) implement a federally authorized or federally delegated program;
(3) implement territorial laws, which are consistent with a certified Fiscal Plan, that execute Federal requirements and standards; or
(4) preserve and maintain federally funded mass transportation assets.
(Pub. L. 114–187, title II, § 204, June 30, 2016, 130 Stat. 570.)
heading: References in Text
text: This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a)(5) and (d), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 114–187, June 30, 2016, 130 Stat. 549, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2101 of this title and Tables.
This subtitle, referred to in subsec. (a)(6), probably should be a reference to “this title”, meaning title II of Pub. L. 114–187, June 30, 2016, 130 Stat. 563, which is classified generally to this subchapter. Pub. L. 114–187 does not contain subtitles.