Olmsted Amendment
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The Olmsted Amendment was a modification to the
Foraker Act The Foraker Act, , officially known as the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian (albeit limited popular) government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had recently become a possession of the United State ...
of 1900, and became law on July 16, 1909. The law was designed to modify several perceived weaknesses in Puerto Rico's government at the request of
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
William Howard Taft and Governor Regis Henri Post. It was the Foraker Act that established the United States controlled civilian government on the island of Puerto Rico after the Spanish–American War. The act also regulated the political and economic relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Nevertheless, the Olmsted Amendment was passed by both houses of U.S. Congress in response to a governmental crisis in Puerto Rico in early 1909, as a result of which the Legislature of Puerto Rico failed to pass a
budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environment ...
. The amendment stated that whenever the Puerto Rican legislature adjourned without consensus about appropriations for the support of the government, the sums appropriated from the previous year would be considered appropriate. The act also placed the supervision of Puerto Rican affairs in the jurisdiction of an executive department to be designated by the president. The discussions of the bill provoked the first Congressional debate on the island's form of government since 1900. Although the Amendment's supporters in the Administration and Congress perceived it as a pragmatic step to deal with the failure to adopt a budget for Puerto Rico, many Puerto Rican political leaders considered it a retrograde step in the island's struggle toward greater self-government.


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Olmsted Amendment
1909 in American law Political history of Puerto Rico United States federal territory and statehood legislation 1909 in Puerto Rico {{US-fed-statute-stub