PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

April 3, 2018

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STATISTICAL INSTITUTE REGARDING APPROVAL OF REORGANIZATION PLAN #7

Last night, the Senate approved Reorganization Plan #7 to reorganize the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, merging into it several government entities, including the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

We agree that several statistical divisions from different entities can be consolidated to achieve cost-efficiencies, and the Institute is ready to assume those functions under the right circumstances. In fact, we are under the orders of the Governor and the Legislative Assembly to develop a Plan for the Reorganization of the Statistics System that consolidates these functions into an independent institution.

However, the aforementioned Reorganization Plan #7 also proposes to eliminate all the Institute's independent governance structures and transfer them to the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Trade, and then “outsource” the statistical functions. This is not the way to solve problems with Puerto Rico's statistics.

Thousands of people, 16 members of Congress, the Private Sector Coalition, the Transparency Network, the American Statistical Association and even the Fiscal Oversight Board have recommended that the Institute remain an independent entity of the Government of Puerto Rico, free from political intervention. We urge the Legislative Assembly to carefully weigh the bills. We are once again at your disposal.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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