2016 gubernatorial campaign Since 2012, Rosselló was mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate for the 2016 election cycle. In 2013, he began organizing a group of collaborators to build what he called
Plan para Puerto Rico (
Plan for Puerto Rico). This plan would serve as a blueprint to deal with the economic and political problems and Puerto Rico and by being built years before a candidacy, it would represent a more complete and realistic political agenda. In 2014, Rosselló utilized his political platform to perform several protest events against the policies of the incumbent governor of Puerto Rico,
Alejandro García Padilla. Some of these events included a march against a proposed
Value Added Tax. Rosselló described that he intended to apply a scientific approach to governance. As a part of this, he traveled to other countries and US states to study how they approached various problems in governing, such as Finland, Estonia, and Florida. On September 19, 2015, he confirmed his intention to run for
Governor of Puerto Rico in the
2016 election, and held a campaign rally the next day at
Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan that surpassed the previous attendance record held by Ricky Martin. At the rally, he endorsed
Jenniffer González, a Republican, for Resident Commissioner. On June 5, 2016, Rosselló won the
New Progressive Party primary against incumbent
Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, thus becoming the party's candidate for governor and heading to the general election against PPD candidate
David Bernier. He made
Puerto Rican statehood the central issue of his campaign, and views statehood as the key to economic recovery. On November 8, 2016, Rosselló defeated five other gubernatorial candidates and was elected Governor of Puerto Rico, receiving 41% of the vote. He was sworn in on January 2, 2017.
Tenure Domestic policies in March 2018. Upon his election, Rosselló was the second-youngest person to become Governor of Puerto Rico. On his first day as governor, Rosselló signed six executive orders. His first executive order was the OE-2017-001, decreeing a state of fiscal emergency. The second order was the OE-2017-002, which creates the COF with the intent of obtaining, maximizing and overseeing more federal funds. Rosselló signed the Permitting Reform Act (Law 19-2017) to streamline the permitting process, promoting business investment and job creation in Puerto Rico. The law consolidates multiple permits into a Single Permit and introduces the Unified Information System for online applications. Additionally, Executive Order OE-2017-003 aims to expedite permits for infrastructure projects that support citizen services and economic development. These efforts seek to improve Puerto Rico’s competitiveness and attract foreign investment. The fourth executive order, OE-2017-004, creates an interagency group of projects critical for the infrastructure, a collateral effect of the OE 2017–003. The fifth executive order, OE-2017-005, orders the implementation of the method of zero base budget for the preparation of the budget for the fiscal year 2017–2018. The last executive order Rosselló signed on his first day was the OE-2017-006; it decrees a public policy within the Government of Puerto Rico that guarantees equal pay and work for women employees He also began the process of restructuring Puerto Rico's national debt. In 2017, Rosselló signed the
Permitting Reform Act, streamlining business permitting processes on the island, and he also created the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety. In July 2017, Rosselló signed a bill that enacts regulations and makes the use of marijuana legal for medicinal use. The move goes further than the executive order issued by his predecessor which in Roselló's words, "ignored the legislative process and, following an executive order, promulgated a regulation without due discussion with all sectors and representatives elected by the people." Rosselló has stated that he intends to shrink the size of government, through reducing funding to various parts of the bureaucracy. He also started an effort on labor reform, which was revoked after differences between the governor's intended version and the version developed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board. Rosselló then tabled a second version of the plan in March 2018. In 2017, he signed the Equal Pay Act, pushing for equal pay regardless of gender. In 2018 he signed six laws targeting the reform of the insurance industry, as a response to how insurance companies acted during recent hurricanes. In December 2017, Rosselló signed the "New Government Law", which was intended to consolidate agencies in order to improve efficiency and save capital. Rosselló stated, "the objective is to establish a platform where we can reduce a 131 agencies to 30 or 35 agencies in Puerto Rico." Rosselló’s administration brought an anti-corruption law for public administration-level reforms focusing on fraud, bribery, petty crimes and kickbacks. Rosselló signed an executive order that brought the minimum wage for Puerto Rico construction workers under government contracting from the previous minimum wage of $8.25 per hour to $15.00 per hour. Rosselló’s administration brought an anti-corruption law for public administration-level reforms focusing on fraud, bribery, petty crimes and kickbacks.
Wanda Vázquez Garced, the governor who followed his troubled tenure, stated all contracts signed by Rosselló would be reviewed by her administration. Rosselló's alleged corruption was given as a reason to further delay promised funds for Hurricane Maria recovery, as announced by
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development on August 6, 2019.
Economic strategies and First Lady
Melania Trump following
Hurricane Maria in 2017 By the time Rosselló took office, the
Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government which was saddled with outstanding debt of $70billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with a 45% poverty rate and 14.2% unemployment that is more than twice the mainland U.S. average. The Commonwealth had been defaulting on many debts, including bonds, since 2015. Rosselló discussed the situation and sketched out his plans in an interview with the international
Financial Times in mid January and indicated that he would seek an amicable resolution with creditors and also make fiscal reforms. "There will be real fiscal oversight and we are willing to sit down. We are taking steps to make bold reforms. ... What we are asking for is runway to establish these reforms and have Washington recognise that they have a role to play." He also implemented austerity measures, instructing Puerto Rican government agencies to cut operating expenses by 10% and reduce political appointees by 20%. To ensure funds would be available to pay for "essential" government services Rosselló signed a fiscal emergency law on January 28, 2017, that would set aside funds that might otherwise be required for debt payments. In late January, the federal control board created under
PROMESA gave the government until February 28 to present a fiscal plan - including negotiations with creditors - to solve the problems. It is essential for Puerto Rico to reach restructuring deals to avoid a bankruptcy-like process under PROMESA. A moratorium on lawsuits by debtors was extended to May 31. Rosselló had signed the Betting Committee Act, legalizing crypto currency as well as online and live gambling, including esports, fantasy sports, and sports betting. The legislation aimed to boost the local economy and position Puerto Rico as a hub for sports betting, with the industry projected to reach over $3 billion by 2023. Rosselló’s administration achieved an agreed upon fiscal plan with the oversight board, contrasting the failed efforts of his predecessor in 2016. In his oral testimony to PROMESA on May 2, Rosselló stated that his fiscal structural reforms reduced the potential layoffs of over 20,000 employees using a voluntary transition program, reduced 20% of the government agencies, and operational costs by 17%. In the same testimony, he also stated that these reforms created 18,000 new jobs and contributed toward post-hurricane recovery and rebuilding. In December, he signed into law a legislation, creating an earned income tax credit to provide $2 billion tax relief within five years. In July 2018, Rosselló administration announced that Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate to be 9.3 percent which was allegedly the lowest then in 50 years. His administration also secured $18.5 billon from the
US Department of Housing and Urban Development for long-term recovery and repair of houses, businesses and infrastructure destroyed by the Hurricane Maria. This, together with the $1,5 billion awarded earlier in February, was historically the largest federal grant.
Education On February 5, 2018, Rosselló announced a broad education reform. The reform aimed to incorporate into Puerto Rico's education system
school vouchers and
charter schools as well as bring more attention to students. It was signed into law in March 2018, guaranteeing 70% of the island’s education budget going to local schools.
Tourism Rosselló announced an MOU between the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) and the Puerto Rico Innovation & Technology Service (PRITS) to create a digital archive called the Tourism Intelligence Platform to collect tourism data and inform decision-making tourism competitiveness improvement. It also included creation of the Destination Management Organization (DMO) to market Puerto Rico as a tourism destination and enhance the management of tourism activities.
Social issues Rosselló is known as fiscally conservative. He supports abortion rights, gender equality, legalization of medical marijuana but opposes its legalization for recreational use. In terms of LGBT rights, Rosselló has a mixed record. Initially, he came out against marriage equality, however he was a proponent of adoption rights for same-sex couples, and created the first advisory board on LGBT issues. In 2019 he issued an executive order to ban conversion therapy of LGBT youth and minors. Under his administration for the first time the residence of the governor was illuminated in rainbow colors, a nod to the support of his administration to the LGBT community. Furthermore, Rosselló was highly critical of President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies.
Views on statehood Rosselló was strongly in favor of statehood for Puerto Rico to help develop the economy and to help Puerto Rico's 500-year old colonial dilemma. "Colonialism is not an option .... It's a civil rights issue ... The time will come in which the United States has to respond to the demands of 3.5million citizens seeking an absolute democracy" he stated. In January 2017, he announced that Puerto Ricans will be given an opportunity to vote in the
fifth plebiscite on June 11, 2017, with three options: "Statehood", "Current Territorial Status" and "Independence/Free Association". It initially did not offer the second option, which was added at the request of
United States Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ). On June 11, 2017, the results of the
plebiscite were 97% in favor of statehood. However, the plebiscite results have been marred and been called into question. Due to months of calls for boycotting by his political rivals and confusion, the turnout for the plebiscite was 23% of the eligible electorate. Rosselló plans on creating a commission that will ensure the validity of the referendum in Congress. He has stated that he does not believe that Puerto Rico yet has the political infrastructure to pursue statehood, and that he intends to develop it. ==Professor==