19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico explained

19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
Body:	Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
Election:	8 November 2020
Government:	Pierluisi government
Before:	18th
After:	20th
Chamber1:	27th Senate
Membership1:	27
Chamber1 Leader1 Type:	President
Chamber1 Leader1:	José Luis Dalmau
Chamber1 Leader2 Type:	President pro tem
Chamber1 Leader2:	Marially González Huertas
Chamber1 Leader3 Type:	Majority Leader
Chamber1 Leader3:	Javier Aponte Dalmau
Chamber1 Leader4 Type:	Majority Whip
Chamber1 Leader5 Type:	Minority Leaders
Chamber1 Leader5:	Thomas Rivera Schatz (PNP), Ana Irma Rivera Lassén (MVC), M.ª de Lourdes Santiago Negrón (PIP), Joanne Rodríguez Veve (PD), José "Chaco" Vargas Vidot (Ind.)
Chamber1 Leader6 Type:	Minority Whips
Chamber1 Leader6:	Carmelo Ríos Santiago (PNP),Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl (MVC)
Chamber2:	29th House of Representatives
Membership2:	51
Chamber2 Leader1 Type:	Speaker
Chamber2 Leader1:	Tatito Hernández Montañez
Chamber2 Leader2 Type:	Speaker pro tem
Chamber2 Leader2:	Conny Varela
Chamber2 Leader3 Type:	Majority Leader
Chamber2 Leader3:	Angel Matos García
Chamber2 Leader4 Type:	Majority Whip
Chamber2 Leader4:	Roberto Rivera Ruiz de Porras
Chamber2 Leader5 Type:	Minority Leaders
Chamber2 Leader5:	Carlos Johnny Méndez (PNP), Mariana Nogales Molinelli (MVC), Denis Márquez Lebrón (PIP), Lisie Burgos Muñiz (PD)
Chamber2 Leader6 Type:	Minority Whips
Chamber2 Leader6:	Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló (PNP), José Bernardo Márquez Reyes (MVC)
Session1 Start:	January 11, 2021^[1]
Session1 End:	June 30, 2021
Session2 Start:	August 16, 2021
Session2 End:	November 16, 2021
Session3 Start:	January 10, 2022
Session3 End:	June 30, 2022
Session4 Start:	August 15, 2022
Session4 End:	November 15, 2022
Session5 Start:	January 9, 2023
Session5 End:	June 30, 2023
Session6 Start:	August 21, 2023
Session6 End:	November 14, 2023
Session7 Start:	January 8, 2024
Session7 End:	June 30, 2024
Session8 Start:	August 19, 2024*
Session8 End:	November 19, 2024*

The 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico will meet from January 2, 2021, to January 1, 2025. Members of the 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico were elected in the 2020 House of Representatives election, while members of the 27th Senate of Puerto Rico were elected the same day in the Senate election. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD in Spanish) does not have an outright majority in the Senate, but controls the chamber. While the PPD had a simple majority of representatives in the 31st House of Representatives from 2021 to 2022, this has ceased to be the case since 4 May 2022.

Major legislation

The following is a non-extensive list of legislation with far-reaching impact in Puerto Rican society approved by the 19th Legislative Assembly. For an extensive list of all legislation approved in this legislature see List of acts of the 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico.

Enacted

• Law 10 of 2022: Special Law for the Minimum Salary of Teachers in the Public Education System.^[2] Increased the minimum salary for teachers to $2,750 monthly.
• Law 47 of 2021: Puerto Rico Minimum Wage Act. ^[3] The law increased the minimum wage from 7.25 to $10.50 per hour (or higher) by 1 July 2024; allows Puerto Rico’s minimum wage to prevail over the federal minimum wage if Puerto Rico's is higher; created the Minimum Wage Review Commission within the Department of Labor and Human Resources which will review and increase the minimum wage yearly via decrees; and provided employees of local businesses not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 with protections.
• Law 7 of 2021: Dignified Retirement Act. ^[4] Declares a state of emergency for the government of Puerto Rico and its pension systems, proposes a model to manage creditors' classes under a Plan of Adjustment of Puerto Rico's public debts, setting a goal for zero pension cuts, as well as rejecting prima facie any Plan of Adjustment or Restructuring Support Agreement proposed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico that requires the cutting of essential public services by the central government and public corporations or the municipalities.

Proposed

• Senate Bill 693: Law for the Protection of the Conceived in its Gestational Stage of Viability.^[5] Would remove or restrict medical exemptions from the abortion section of the Puerto Rico penal code as recognized in Pueblo de Puerto Rico v. Pablo Duarte Mendoza (1980). The Senate approved it on 21 June 2022, by a vote of 16 for, 9 against, one abstained and one absent. It has been referred to the House of Representatives, and awaits consideration.
• House Bill 1037: To amend Section 404 (a) of the Puerto Rico Controlled Substances Act, Act No. 4 of 23 June 1971, as amended, for the purpose of decriminalizing the simple possession of fourteen (14) grams or less of marijuana.^[6] Would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. Puerto Rico currently allows medical marijuana use and sales, but not recreational marijuana use. Failed to pass in the House of Representatives on 1 November 2022, by a vote of 19 for, 26 against, 2 abstained, 3 absent.

Leadership

Senate

Office	Senator^[7]	Party	District
President	nowrap	José Luis Dalmau Santiago	PPD	District VII
Vice President	nowrap	Marially González Huertas	PPD	District V
Majority Leader	nowrap		PPD	District VIII
Minority Leaders	nowrap	Thomas Rivera Schatz	PNP	At-large
	nowrap	María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón	PIP	At-large
	nowrap	Ana Irma Rivera Lassén	MVC	At-large
	nowrap	Joanne Rodríguez Veve	PD	At-large

House of Representatives

Office	Representative	Party	District
Speaker of the House	nowrap	Tatito Hernández Montañez	PPD	District 11
Speaker Pro Tem	nowrap	Conny Varela	PPD	District 32
Majority Leader	nowrap	Angel Matos García	PPD	District 40
Minority Leaders	nowrap	Johnny Méndez	PNP	District 36
	nowrap	Mariana Nogales Molinelli	MVC	At-large
	nowrap	Denis Márquez Lebrón	PIP	At-large
	nowrap	Lisie Burgos Muñiz	PD	At-large

Party summary

Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Changes in membership" section below.

Senate

Begin (from January 2, 2021)

Affiliation	Party (shading indicates control of presidency and leadership of the chamber)						Total	Vacant
	Popular Democratic	Citizen Victory	Independence	Independent	Project Dignity	New Progressive
End of previous Legislature	7	0	1	1	0		21	30	0
Begin (2 January 2021)	12	2	1	1	1	10	27	0
30 June 2022	9					26	1
11 September 2022	10					27	0
Latest voting share

House of Representatives

Current (from 4 May 2022)File: 31ª Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico (inicio de cuatrienio).svg

(21 March 2021 - 4 May 2022)File: 31ra Camara de Representantes de Puerto Rico (entre enero y marzo 2021).svg

(11 January 2021 - 21 March 2021)File: 31ª Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico (inicio de cuatrienio).svg

Begin 2 January 2021 – 11 January 2021

Affiliation	Party (shading indicates control of presidency and leadership of the chamber)						Total	Vacant
	Popular Democratic	Citizen Victory	Independence	Independent	Project Dignity	New Progressive
End of previous Legislature	16	1	1	0	0		34	51	0
Begin (2 January 2022)	26	2	1	0	1	21	51	0
11 January 2021	20					50	1
21 March 2021	21					51	0
4 May 2022				25				1
11 September 2022	20			50		1
6 December	21			51		0
Latest voting share

Changes in membership

House of Representatives

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date of successor's installation
2	nowrap	Luis Raúl Torres	Changed party, 4 May 2022^[10]	nowrap	Luis Raúl Torres	4 May 2022
3	nowrap	Juan Oscar Morales Rodríguez	Became senator, vacating House seat,^[11] Vacancy filled in special election in December.^[12]	nowrap	José «Cheíto» Hernández Concepción.^[13]	6 December 2022
At-large	nowrap	Néstor A. Alonso Vega	Resigned upon being charged on 11 January 2021.^[14] A special election was held on 21 March 2021.^[15]	nowrap	José «Che» Pérez Cordero.^[16]	21 March 2021

See also

• List of Legislative Assemblies of Puerto Rico

External links

• Puerto Rico State Elections Commission
• Puerto Rico Senate
• Puerto Rico House of Representatives

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ley para Fijar la Duración de las Sesiones Ordinarias y los Plazos para la Radicación y la Consideración de Proyectos, Resoluciones Conjuntas y Resoluciones Concurrentes. Spanish. 2 March 1997. 4 May 2022.
2. Web site: Ley Especial de Salario Base para el Magisterio del Sistema de Educacion Publico. Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo . Oficina de Servicios Legislativos . 10 May 2022 . Spanish.
3. Web site: Puerto Rico Minimum Wage Act. Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo . Oficina de Servicios Legislativos . 10 May 2022 . English.
4. Web site: Dignified Retirement Act Act. Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo . Oficina de Servicios Legislativos . 10 May 2022 . English.
5. Web site: PS0693 . Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo . Oficina de Servicios Legislativos . 10 May 2022 . Spanish.
6. Web site: PC1037 . Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo . Oficina de Servicios Legislativos . 3 November 2022 . Spanish.
7. Web site: Senators of the 19th Legislative Assembly . Senado de Puerto Rico . Puerto Rico Senate . 8 May 2022 . Spanish.
8. News: El senador Henry Neumann renuncia a su puesto . 12 September 2022 . El Nuevo Día . 21 June 2022 . es.
9. Web site: CEE Event: Special Election for District I senator . senadordistrito1.ceepur.org . 12 September 2022.
10. News: Rico . Sofía . Representante Luis Raúl Torres se desafilia del PPD . 5 May 2022 . Noticel . 4 May 2022.
11. Web site: Juan Oscar Morales es el ganador de la elección especial por silla en el Senado . Metro Puerto Rico . 20 January 2023 . es.
12. Web site: CEE Event . representantedistrito3.ceepur.org.
13. Web site: Certificación para el cargo de representante . www.ceepur.org . Comisión Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico . 19 January 2023 . es-pr . 6 December 2022.
14. News: Néstor Alonso renuncia a su escaño en la Cámara de Representantes . . 11 January 2021 . 8 May 2022 .
15. Web site: Special Election to cover the vacancy of the At-Large Representative . State Election Commission . State Election Commission.
16. News: Lista la CEE para la elección especial del PNP . . 22 February 2021 . 8 May 2022 .