President of the House of Representatives agrees to pass “Dignified Retirement Act”

On his first day as president of the House of Representatives, Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez, announced that one of the first steps will be the repeal of the electoral law and labor reform, as well as the passage of House Bill 120 that would give way to the “Dignified Retirement Act” as a mechanism to secure the pensions of officials.

“We are going to approve it and if it is vetoed and the board does not pay attention to it, we are going to defend it in court or in the necessary forums”, said the President of the Chamber regarding the extent of authorship of the representative of the New progressive party (PNP), Lourdes ramos.

Yesterday, Sunday, more than 18 labor organizations demanded approval of the measure before February 10, by which date the government must have presented to federal judge Laura Taylor Swain an agreement with creditors or an adjustment plan to settle public debt, including pension cuts. of government employees.

House Bill 120, written by the representative of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Denis Márques, is reviving a measure that stayed in the legislature last year.

For a bit, Hernández Montañez signed his first executive order declaring a budget emergency in the Legislative Assembly to make the necessary adjustments. One such change is the elimination of duplicate expenses and functions in the supervision and joint commissions.

“We have three joint committees, the Superintendency and the Chamber. In each of these entities, there is a director of finance and there is a director of purchasing and human resources… all those directors have a rate of $ 5,000 and $ 6,000, out of five they are $ 25,000, ”said Hernández Montañez.

However, he warned that they will ensure that similar adjustment measures are also taken at the executive level. “When we do it at home, we make sure that the central government also adapts to the financial realities of the Puerto Rican people,” he warned.

Hernández also signed a second administrative order to ensure continued disclosure of public information as a measure to prevent government corruption and conflicts of interest. “That the people of Puerto Rico have full and immediate access to the documents and information that prove the functioning and functioning of this legislative body,” he stressed.

A third administrative order for its part aims to establish guidelines for the registration of lobbyists. “People want to know who they are, what they are looking for, who they contribute and who they represent. Anyone who has a legitimate purpose to discuss with one of our 51 representatives who is doing it in front of the people, ”he stated.

In addition, Hernández Montañez said a resolution has already been filed to investigate the Luma Energy contract.