Resident commissioner hopes for upbeat message in today’s state of the island address

By THE STAR STAFF

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón said Monday that she trusts that Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia will have good news for the people of Puerto Rico in his State of the Island address today.

She expressed the hope that the governor will use his message to explain how the disbursement of federal funds for reconstruction and economic development projects is progressing, as well as the activation and expansion of more programs supported with federal funds such as the financing of renewable energy systems, which began today.

“We hope that the governor will announce concrete steps to accelerate construction projects that have had the federal allocations that we have already sought for years, so that they generate more jobs, increase the employment rate and generate more economic activity and local tax collections,” González Colón said. “In the same way, public security is an important element in the face of rising crime on the island and the withdrawal of hundreds of members of the uniformed police.”

The congresswoman on Friday received an invitation to the governor’s state message, from which the staff of her office excused her because the U.S. Congress is in session this week, with work on the appropriations of funds and a measure that aims to lower energy costs, will and where she will