No. 20-1332

IN RE: THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, AS REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO; THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, AS REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE PUERTO RICO HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY; THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, AS REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE PUERTO RICO ELECTRIC POWER AUTHORITY (PREPA); THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, AS REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE PUERTO RICO SALES TAX FINANCING CORPORATION, a/k/a Cofina; THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, AS REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO; THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PUERTO RICO PUBLIC BUILDINGS AUTHORITY,

Debtors.

UNIÓN DE TRABAJADORES DE LA INDUSTRIA ELÉCTRICA Y RIEGO (UTIER),

Petitioner, Appellant,

v.

JOSÉ F. ORTIZ-VÁZQUEZ; THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD, AS REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE PUERTO RICO ELECTRIC POWER AUTHORITY (PREPA),

Respondents, Appellees.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Laura Taylor Swain, U.S. District Judge] Before

Lynch, Kayatta, and Barron, Circuit Judges.

Guillermo Ramos-Luiña on brief for appellant. Timothy W. Mungovan, John E. Roberts, Martin J. Bienenstock, Stephen L. Ratner, Jonathan E. Richman, Mark D. Harris, Shiloh Rainwater, and Proskauer Rose LLP on brief for appellees.

January 15, 2021 LYNCH, Circuit Judge. In this appeal from the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act ("PROMESA") Title III court in Puerto Rico, the sole remaining question is whether that court appropriately dismissed the petitioner's mandamus petition for failure to state a claim. The petition alleges that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority ("PREPA") violated two provisions of a Puerto Rican statute when PREPA announced that it would increase some medical co-pays while decreasing others in order to comply with its certified fiscal plan. The petitioner, Unión de Trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Riego ("UTIER"), which represents the employees of PREPA, seeks to compel PREPA to comply with what it says are the requirements of Act No. 26-2017, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 3, §§ 9461 et seq. The Title III court concluded that UTIER did not meet its burden of showing that there were no adequate alternative remedies, which is a precondition for mandamus relief. We agree and affirm.1

I.

In 2016, Congress enacted PROMESA, 48 U.S.C. §§ 2101 et seq., which established the Financial Oversight and Management Board ("FOMB") to help address the fiscal emergency in Puerto Rico. Id. § 2121; see also id. § 2194(m); Municipality of San Juan v.

1 Because UTIER did not request oral argument and the Financial Oversight and Management Board expressly requested that the case not be orally argued, this case was taken as submitted on the briefs.

- 3 - Puerto Rico, 919 F.3d 565, 568 (1st Cir. 2019); In re Fin. Oversight & Mgmt. Bd. for P.R., 916 F.3d 98, 103-04 (1st Cir. 2019). The FOMB is authorized to review and certify all budgets and long-term fiscal plans for the Commonwealth and its covered instrumentalities, such as PREPA, to achieve fiscal responsibility and access to capital markets. 48 U.S.C. §§ 2121(a), (d), 2141- 2142; see also In re Fin. Oversight & Mgm