Deep budget cuts are contributing to the spread of the Zika virus in Puerto Rico, according to a new report from House Democrats.
The report attempts to tie two major legislative priorities together: debt relief for the island U.S. territory and additional funding for fighting the Zika virus. Puerto Rico had 570 Zika cases as of April 27, with nearly one out of four citizens expected to be infected within a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Puerto Rican government owes creditors $72 billion and has a $46 billion pension liability. The government cannot seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to U.S. law.
To pay down the debts, the island government has slashed public health services and raised taxes.
Puerto Rico’s Department of Health funding has been slashed from $898 million in 2011 to $763 million in 2015, the report from Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee said.
“Without question, further cuts would greatly compromise the department’s ability to respond to urgent health needs like Zika,” the report said.
The report calls for the end to austerity cuts in Puerto Rico and to increase Medicaid payments, as the federal program for the low-income is the largest insurer on the island.
“The federal contribution to Medicaid must reach parity with comparable states to relieve undue financial pressure on Puerto Rico’s healthcare system,” the report said.
Congressional Democrats are pushing the GOP to take up President Obama’s $1.9 billion emergency funding request for Zika, a part of which would go to help Puerto Rico. Republican lawmakers have said that the administration needs to answer more questions about how the money would be spent, a request Democrats say the White House has already fulfilled.
Zika is spread primarily by bites from two types of mosquitoes, and so far they aren’t spreading Zika in the continental U.S. However, more than 400 cases have been confirmed of people who recently traveled to a country where the virus is spreading.
The virus is spreading in more than 40 countries and territories, with a majority in the Americas.
The White House proposed a way that would enable Puerto Rico to restructure its debt nearly 200 days ago but Congress didn’t take up the proposal before leaving for a week-long recess last week.
