Board approves fiscal plan for Puerto Rico amid bankruptcy

By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Pay raises for teachers, firefighters, corrections officers and other employees have been included in a revised fiscal plan that will serve as Puerto Rico’s economic blueprint criticized by some as it emerges from bankruptcy. A federal board that oversees the U.S. territory’s finances approved the plan Thursday and noted that many government workers have not seen a pay raise since 2014. The plan also includes more than $130 million per year for the next five years for civil service reform. In addition, the plan includes debt service payments for the first time since the board was created by Congress in 2016, a year before the island filed for the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.