Puerto Rico Governor Avoids Scrooge Epithet by Paying Bonuses
- Public employees owed $120 million in payments as of Dec. 20
- Commonwealth owes $957 million in debt payments on New Year's
This article is for subscribers only.
Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla will likely avoid comparisons to Ebenezer Scrooge by paying Christmas bonuses due to public employees as the commonwealth contemplates defaulting on bond payments at the start of the year.
The 44-year-old governor, who won’t seek re-election when his term expires in January 2017, will begin paying Monday about $120 million that workers were owed as of Dec. 20, according to an announcement posted Sunday on the administration’s website. Jesus Manuel Ortiz, a spokesman for the governor in San Juan, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail and phone message.