February 14, 2018 The Honorable Ricardo Rosselló Governor La Fortaleza P.O. Box 9020082 San Juan, PR 00902-0082 Dear Governor Rosselló, I write as president of the American Statistical Association to respectfully urge you to keep Puerto Rico’s statistical agency, El Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, PRIS), and its board of directors fully independent. I also draw your attention to the 2,800 individuals—and still growing—who have signed a petition with this same request.1 At this critical historical juncture, Puerto Rico needs accurate, objective, and timely statistics. Government statistics empower the economy, serve the health and welfare of citizens, improve governance, and inform decisions and policies in the public and private sectors, among many other vital functions. Government statistics are also fundamental to evidence-based policymaking, the engagement of which is on a rapid rise in local, state, and federal governments. To address the challenges posed by its decade-long economic recession and the devastation of back-to-back hurricanes, Puerto Rico must chart its path toward sustainable recovery using reputable and reliable data and statistical methods. Because of their broad and profound importance, it is imperative that government statistics be produced through rigorous scientific processes and analyses performed by experts that can function without improper outside influence. Government statistics must be independent, objective, accurate, and timely and be perceived as such. It is just as important to have adequate statistics on a variety of topics. PRIS has demonstrated repeatedly it has the expertise to function independently to produce rigorous, objective, and accurate statistics for the benefit of Puerto Rico and its people. 1 https://www.change.org/p/puerto-rico-legislature-and-governor-ricardo-rosselló-put-the-facts-first- governor-rosselló-for-a-better-puerto-rico In addition to being concerned about the challenges PS809 represents to PRIS’ independence, I am worried the agency has been chronically underfunded. Therefore, besides urging PRIS be kept independent, I echo the 2016 recommendations2 of the Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico “that the government of Puerto Rico consider appropriating a level of funding to the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics that is commensurate with its important responsibilities … [and] that the Institute of Statistics continue to protect its independence.” We understand the difficult fiscal environment Puerto Rico faces that make funding for PRIS hard. Nonetheless, we believe government statistics are all the more important in such times to inform the policies that help Puerto Rico and its leaders navigate through difficulties. I attach the petition, the signers to date, and their compelling comments. These are challenging times for Puerto Rico. Allow me to restate my firm belief that accurate, objective, and timely statistics will help you and all PR residents. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Lisa LaVange, Ph.D. 2018 President American Statistical Association Nearly identical versions of this letter were sent to The Honorable Carlos J. Méndez Nuñez and The Honorable Thomas Rivera Schatz. Enclosures: Petition statements Petition comments Petition signers 2 https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Bipartisan%20Congressional%20Task%20Force%20on% 20Economic%20Growth%20in%20Puerto%20Rico%20Releases%20Final%20Report.pdf ENGLISH Put the facts first: Preserve the autonomy and impartiality of the PR Institute of Statistics The undersigned organizations and individuals, call on the Puerto Rico Legislature and Governor Ricardo Rosselló, to desist from transferring the functions of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (PRIS) to the Department of Commerce and Economic Development and from eventually outsourcing all the statistical functions of the Government of Puerto Rico. The proposed measure (PS-809) represents a political power move that would end the Institute’s autonomy and put at risk the transparent and impartial statistical analyses that are critical for the functioning of Puerto Rico and for sound decision-making in all sectors of society, public and private. Since 2007, when it first began operations, the PRIS has been an indispensable independent public entity, improving Puerto Rico’s statistical and data gathering systems, which historically have been inefficient and plagued by claims of manipulations and a lack of credibility. For a decade, unlike other government agencies, the PRIS has survived numerous political changes thanks to it’s independent nature, leadership, and staff hired for their expertise rather than political favors. During this time, it has consistently provided objective statistical analyses of Puerto Rico’s public and private sectors, and given timely and universal access to comprehensive and reliable statistics on Puerto Rico. To ensure that it continues to serve the people of Puerto Rico in this manner, the PRIS must remain an autonomous and government-funded non-profit. Trusted and accurate statistical data are a cornerstone of a well-functioning democracy and a healthy economy. Now more than ever, Puerto Rico should seek to preserve the functions of an entity that has a demonstrated history of helping to reduce costs and bureaucracy, identifying measures to improve the efficiency and quality of public services, and giving Puerto Rico the information it needs to compete in a global market. Rather than dismantling and privatizing the PRIS, we compel the Government of Puerto Rico to ensure the following: o Independent operations: The PRIS should be exempt from administrative laws that thwart its ability to operate independent of political influences and that increase bureaucracy. This includes Laws 3-2017, 8-2017 and 26-2017. The PRIS should be able to appoint the experts it deems appropriate to complete its highly technical tasks and to allocate its assigned budget without political influence. o Autonomous, impartial governance: The PRIS Board of Directors should be fully constituted by private citizens with no direct connections to current or previous political administrations, nominated on the merits of their personal and professional integrity and objectivity, and of their educational preparation and evidenced competence in the use of statistics (e.g. experts from fields such as statistics, demography, and economics.) Candidates for the PRIS Board could be nominated by professional and industrial associations that represent these fields of expertise rather than by government officials. o Adequate and diversified funding: The PRIS should be provided with adequate public funding levels, commensurate with its important responsibilities and as stipulated in its authorizing law. Greater funding for the PRIS would speed up Puerto Rico’s access to macroeconomic statistics and projections that could help manage government debt. Additionally, the government of Puerto Rico should encourage funding diversification, for example, by supporting grant writing efforts. These qualities we urge for the PRIS echo recommendations made by the Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico, the American Statistical Association in a 2018 letter to Governor Rosselló, the 2015 Krueger Report, the National Academies (Principles and Practices of a Federal Statistical Agency) and by the White House Office of Management and Budget Statistical Policy Directive #1. Without high-quality, up-to-date statistics, Puerto Rico will be left to make decisions blindly, at a moment when it most needs data about the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria, austerity measures, and promising economic development investments. The proposed changes to the PRIS—an entity which has worked positively and effectively over the past ten years—represent one more hit to the stability of Puerto Rico and its capacity to attend to the needs of its people. Therefore, we ask the Legislature and Governor of Puerto Rico to adequately support the PRIS’ operations and to leverage its expertise to inform government policies and reports. Puerto Rico needs an independent, autonomous, and public Institute of Statistics. Sincerely, American Statistical Association Roberto Rivera, Ph.D., President, Puerto Rico Chapter of the American Statistical Association; Associate Professor of Business Management, University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez Rafael Irizarry, Ph.D., Professor of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana- Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, Ph.D., Executive Director, Ciencia Puerto Rico; Director, Yale Ciencia Academy Mónica Feliú-Mójer, Ph.D., Director of Communications & Science Outreach, Ciencia Puerto Rico; Associate Director of Diversity & Communication Training, iBiology; University of California, San Francisco Daniel Colón-Ramos, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Cell Biology, Yale University ***** ESPAÑOL Cuentas claras: Preservemos la autonomía y la imparcialidad del Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico Presiona aquí para ver un video sobre este asunto Las organizaciones e individuos firmantes, hacemos un llamado al Gobernador Ricardo Rosselló y a la Legislatura de Puerto Rico a desistir de la transferencia de las funciones del Instituto de Estadísticas de Puerto Rico (IEPR) al Departamento de Desarrollo Económico y Comercio de Puerto Rico y de eventualmente externalizar todas las funciones estadísticas