Beltway Confidential

Local Puerto Rican governments are extorting American taxpayers

By Paul Blair

Published October 4, 2018 7:30pm ET

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Local Puerto Rican governments are extorting American taxpayers — Workers of the electric repair brigade remove old cables in San German, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Federal and Puerto Rican officials are preparing for another catastrophe that cuts power for weeks or months. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is leaving some 600 generators installed in key sites such as hospitals and water pumping stations, more than six times the number before Maria. | (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In the aftermath of the historic devastation imposed by hurricanes last year, several Puerto Rican towns refused to let a good crisis go to waste. New tax notices issued by at least eight Puerto Rico municipalities show that local governments are trying to scam federal taxpayers into sending them a bigger piece of federal relief funds.

When it comes to funding disaster relief, Congress should act to ensure that this never happens again.

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FEMA Hurricane Irma Hurricanes Puerto Rico Taxes