Gabriel Fantacone testifies on Champerty Bill

Good afternoon.

Hello?

Is this on?

Yeah.

Good afternoon.

Thank you to Madam Deputy Speaker, Councilmember Aviles, the Cultural Affairs Committee, and the Broad Coalition standing with us today, fighting for the dignity of Puerto Rico and its citizens.

My name is Gabriel Fantacone.

I'm Deputy Director of Civic Engagement and Research at Churches United for Fair Housing.

I'm here today urging immediate adoption of all of the aforementioned resolutions, but particularly Resolution 27 by the City Council, which calls for the immediate passage of the Champerty Bill,

Assembly Bill A643A, by the New York State Assembly upon the opening of the 2027 legislative session.

The Champerty Bill repeals a decades-old carve-out that allows a group of Wall Street vulture funds to profit off of debt-distressed countries.

These funds make a living of buying distressed sovereign debt bonds and immediately suing for full repayment plus interest in New York State courts, driving these nations into deeper fiscal crisis and profiteering the suffering of entire peoples.

This type of litigation is permissible for sovereign debt bonds due to a deliberate carve-out in state law passed by the vulture funds 20 years ago that has devastated Puerto Rico and so many other nations.

Champers litigation is one of the direct causes of Puerto Rico's debt crisis in the 2010s, and the Vulture Fund's behavior and profit model was directly responsible for the years of economic devastation and forced migration that followed.

Sadly, Puerto Rico is one of many nations that have been targeted under this carve-out.

with countries such as Argentina losing $2.4 billion to the vulture funds, all while facing deep socioeconomic devastation as a result.

For New Yorkers such as myself who come from and represent immigrant communities forced to leave their homes due to economic exploitation, this legislation isn't just important, it's personal.

We have an opportunity to change our state financial policy for the better and to advance global economic justice from inside the halls of the state capitol.

I'm grateful to the City Council for advancing and considering Reso 27, calling on the Assembly to pass the Champerty Bill for the benefit of Puerto Rico and all nations.

I'm using the word nation here because we support Puerto Rican independence in this house.

And I ask the city council, and I'm also grateful to my partners on the Debt Justice Alliance and to Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, who couldn't be here today, but whose presence is felt through her fierce sponsorship of the Champerty Bill.

I ask the city council and the assembly, please stand on the right side of history and help us pass these historic pieces of legislation.

Thank you.