Puerto Rico Package Should Include Pro-Work EITC

As part of a robust response to Puerto Rico's economic crisis, federal policymakers should let workers on the island qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) because Puerto Rico is tailor-made for the pro-work EITC -- with its high poverty and unemployment and especially with its low official labor force participation.  The EITC draws people into the labor force, boosting jobs and earnings, and reducing poverty, thereby improving the lives of millions of workers and their families.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch recently called for"tax incentives . . . [to] incentivize growth and labor force participation" in Puerto Rico.  The EITC is that tax incentive, a proven policy success that policymakers can easily extend to workers on the island.