19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

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.

19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
← 18th 20th →
Overview
Legislative body	Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
Term	January 2, 2021 (2021-01-02) – January 1, 2025 (2025-01-01)
Election	8 November 2020 Senate House
Government	Pierluisi government
27th Senate
Members	27
President	José Luis Dalmau
President pro tem	Marially González Huertas
Majority Leader	Javier Aponte Dalmau
Majority Whip	Gretchen Marie Hau Irizarry
Minority Leaders	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.)
Minority Whips	Carmelo Ríos Santiago (PNP),Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl (MVC)
29th House of Representatives
Members	51
Speaker	Tatito Hernández Montañez
Speaker pro tem	Conny Varela
Majority Leader	Angel Matos García
Majority Whip	Roberto Rivera Ruiz de Porras
Minority Leaders	Carlos Johnny Méndez (PNP), Mariana Nogales Molinelli (MVC), Denis Márquez Lebrón (PIP), Lisie Burgos Muñiz (PD)
Minority Whips	Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló (PNP), José Bernardo Márquez Reyes (MVC)
Sessions
1st January 11, 2021[1] – June 30, 2021 2nd August 16, 2021 – November 16, 2021 3rd January 10, 2022 – June 30, 2022 4th August 15, 2022 – November 15, 2022 5th January 9, 2023 – June 30, 2023 6th August 21, 2023 – November 14, 2023 7th January 8, 2024 – June 30, 2024 8th August 19, 2024* – November 19, 2024*

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	José Luis Dalmau Santiago	PPD	District VII
Vice President	Marially González Huertas	PPD	District V
Majority Leader	Javier Antonio Aponte Dalmau	PPD	District VIII
Minority Leaders	Thomas Rivera Schatz	PNP	At-large
	María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón	PIP	At-large
	Ana Irma Rivera Lassén	MVC	At-large
	Joanne Rodríguez Veve	PD	At-large

House of Representatives

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

Party summary

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

Senate

Senate membership 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	44.4%	7.4%	3.7%	3.7%	3.7%	37.0%

House of Representatives

House membership Current (from 4 May 2022) (21 March 2021 - 4 May 2022) (11 January 2021 - 21 March 2021) 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[a]						20	50	1
21 March 2021[a]						21	51	0
4 May 2022[b]	25			1
11 September 2022 [c]						20	50	1
6 December [c]						21	51	0
Latest voting share	49.0%	3.9%	2.0%	2.0%	2.0%	41.2%

Changes in membership

Senate

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date of successor's installation
I - San Juan	Henry Neumann	Resigned, effective on 30 June 2022[8] A special election was held on 11 September 2022[9]	Juan Oscar Morales Rodríguez	11 September 2022

House of Representatives

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

See also

• List of Legislative Assemblies of Puerto Rico

Notes

1. In At-Large seat: Néstor A. Alonso Vega (PNP) resigned on 11 January 2021 as he was charged with corruption. His successor, José Pérez Cordero was elected on 21 March 2021.
2. In District 2: Luis Raúl Torres Cruz (PPD) broke from the party caucus and declared himself independent on 4 May 2022.
3. In San Juan District 3 seat: Juan Oscar Morales Rodríguez (PNP) became Senator, leaving a vacancy that was filled in a special election in December.

References

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

External links

• Puerto Rico portal
• Politics portal

• Puerto Rico State Elections Commission (in Spanish)
• Puerto Rico Senate (in Spanish)
• Puerto Rico House of Representatives (in Spanish)