( Follow this link to listen to a recent episode of Connections with Evan Dawson, as he interviews the chairman of the state's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task force and local Latino leaders on the economic problems facing Puerto Rico)
Governor Cuomo has sent two delegations over the last two months to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Delegates blame a lack of federal funding for healthcare as part of the reason that island is in an economic crisis.
Just under a third of Puerto Rico’s 72 billion dollar debt is money borrowed to pay for the territory’s Medicaid program.
The federal government reimburses at lower rate on the island than any other place in the country.
Assembly Member Marcos Crespo says Puerto Rico’s economic crisis is causing a brain drain on the island, particularly in the health care industry.
"Why would an American citizen who’s a medical professional stay working in conditions where they’re not getting paid properly when they could easily move to anywhere in the United States and serve and work and get paid three times as much under any other system?" says Crespo.
Just last year, 84 thousand people left the island for the U.S. mainland, representing a 38 percent increase over 2010. Some say the increased migration could impact the next elections.
"We have a lot of folks moving to New York and Rochester, because of that historical connection and family connections. A lot of folks are moving to the new South (Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas) and they’re really going to help tip those states to more of bluish hue, " says Julio Saenz, author of Rochester’s Latino Community.
As of 2013, more Puerto Ricans lived in mainland U.S. than on the island.