| Senate of Puerto Rico Senado de Puerto Rico |
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|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Upper house |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Senate | Thomas Rivera Schatz, (PNP) since 2008 |
| President pro tempore | Margarita Nolasco, (PNP) since 2008 |
| Majority Leader | Larry Seilhamer (temporary), (PNP) since 2011[1] |
| Minority Leader | José Luis Dalmau Santiago, (PPD) since 2004 |
| Members | 31 |
| Political groups | New Progressive Party Popular Democratic Party |
| Elections | |
| Last election | November 4, 2008 |
| Meeting place | |
| Capitol of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States | |
| Website | |
| http://www.senadopr.us/en/ | |
| Puerto Rico |
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The Senate of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is usually composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an additional eleven senators are elected at-large. Whenever the minority party elects less than 9 senators, Puerto Rico's Constitution provides for the enlargement of the body through the recognition of "add-on" senators, who become senators "at-large".
The Senate, along with its members and staff, are housed in the eastern half of the Capitol Building, the Rafael Martínez Nadal Senate Annex Building, the Luis Muñoz Marín Office Building, the Antonio R. Barceló Building, the Luis A. Ferré Building, the Ramón Mellado Parsons Office Building and the Baltasar Corrada del Rio Office Building.
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The Senate of Puerto Rico was established in 1917, after the signing of the Jones Act. Signed in March 2, 1917, the act made Puerto Ricans into U.S. citizens and empowered them to have a popularly-elected Senate. This came to amend and improve the Foraker Act, signed in 1900, which granted limited administrative and executive powers to Puerto Ricans.
From 1900 to 1917, Puerto Ricans made several attempts to convince the United States into amending the Foraker Act, so they could elect their own Senate. In February 1914, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Rivera presented legislation in Congress insisting in the creation of a Puerto Rican Senate with more powers. Finally, in January 1916, Representative William Jones presented the Jones Act for Puerto Rico and other territories. It was signed by Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917.
In August 13, 1917, the first Senate of Puerto Rico was sworn in. Antonio R. Barceló was chosen as its first President, with Eduardo Georgetti as his Pro tempore. Also, José Muñoz Rivera and Manuel Palacios Salazar were selected as Secretary and Sergeant at Arms respectively. In this first instance, the Senate was composed of 19 members, 14 of which were chosen from each of the seven senatorial districts, and five elected At-large.[2]
Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico states that no person can be a member of the Senate unless he or she:[3]
Senators serve terms of four years each. A member who has been elected, but not yet seated, is called a "senator-elect"; a member who has been appointed to a seat, but not yet seated, is called a "senator-designate". The Puerto Rico Constitution does not provide for term limits and, in fact, one current senator is completing his ninth four-year term as a senator and his tenth as a legislator.
Elections to the Senate are held every four years, along with the elections for mayors, the House of Representatives, Governor and Resident Commissioner.
To elect the members of the Senate, Puerto Rico is divided into eight senatorial districts:
For each one of these districts, the people of Puerto Rico elect two senators. In addition, the people are allowed to vote for one senator at-large of their preference. The eleven at-large Senate candidates with the majority of votes integrate the rest of the Senate.
As of 2009, the annual salary for full-time work of each senator is $73,775 annually. The President of the Senate receives $110,663 while the Vice-President, Party Leaders, and the presidents of the Government and Treasury Commission receive $84,841 each.[4] Cost-of-living adjustments have been frozen since 2005. Senators are forbidden by law from having outside earned income or their legislative pay is otherwise docked.
Along with their salaries, senators qualify for the same retirement and health benefits of all other PR government employees. They also receive benefits like a car allowance for the official use of their private vehicle, and a per diem allowance for each day of attendance to Senate sessions or committee meetings.
The "Majority party" is the political party that has a majority of seats. The next-largest party is known as the minority party. The president pro tempore, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party.
Whenever the elected members of the minority constitute less than nine members, the Constitution provides for the certification of additional "add-on" minority Senators, who will serve in an at-large capacity. Such was the case after the 2004 elections, when four defeated Popular Democratic Party (PPD) Senate candidates, one at-large, and three district candidates, were added on as at-large Senators, joining the five PPD Senators who had achieved election in their own right. This constitutional guarantee of a minimum legislative minority representation is unique to Puerto Rico among all legislatures under the American flag, incorporating an element of proportionality usually found only in proportional representation bodies.
Each party elects floor leaders denominated "Majority leader" or "Minority leader", accordingly, as well as a "Majority Whip" or a "Minority Whip". Floor leaders act as the party chief spokespeople. The current leaders are Majority Leader Larry Seilhamer, Majority Whip Lucy Arce, Minority Leader José Luis Dalmau and Minority Whip Eduardo Bhatia.
The Senate is served by several officials who are not members. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the Secretary of the Senate, who maintains public records, disburses salaries, monitors the acquisition of stationery and supplies, and oversees clerks.[5] Another official is the Sergeant at Arms who, as the Senate's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security on the Senate premises.
This officers are elected by the Senate, usually during its inaugural session, immediately after the election of the body's. The current Secretary is Manuel A. Torres, the only one in history to have served under two Senate Presidents. The current Sergeant At Arms is William Sánchez-Tosado.
The Office of Legislative Services was headed in early 2009 by Kevin Rivera, while Eliezer Velázquez currently serves as Superintendent of the Capitol, the first to serve during two four-year terms.
The Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly also receives support services from the Council of State Governments (CSG), CSG's Eastern Regional Conference, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL).
The Senate, along with the House of Representatives, are in charge of the Legislative Power of the Government of Puerto Rico.[6]
| Affiliation | Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNP | PPD | Ind | Vacant | ||
| End of previous legislature | 17 | 9 | 1 | 27 | 0 |
| Begin | 22 | 9 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| August 29, 2011[7] | 20 | 29 | 2 | ||
| Latest voting share | 72.4% | 27.6% | |||
| Position | Name | Party | District |
|---|---|---|---|
| President of the Senate | Thomas Rivera Schatz | PNP | At-Large |
| President pro Tempore | Margarita Nolasco Santiago | PNP | At-Large |
| Majority Leader | Larry Seilhamer Rodríguez | PNP | V |
| Majority Whip | Luz Arce Ferrer | PNP | At-large |
| Minority Leader | José Luis Dalmau | PPD | At-Large |
| Minority Whip | Eduardo Bhatia | PPD | At-Large |
| District | Name | Party |
|---|---|---|
| I - San Juan | Vacant | PNP |
| Kimmey Raschke Martínez | PNP | |
| II - Bayamón | Migdalia Padilla Alvelo | PNP |
| Carmelo Ríos Santiago | PNP | |
| III - Arecibo | José Emilio González Velázquez | PNP |
| Angel Martínez Santiago | PNP | |
| IV - Mayagüez-Aguadilla | Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes | PNP |
| Evelyn Vázquez Nieves | PNP | |
| V - Ponce | Luis A. Berdiel Rivera | PNP |
| Larry Seilhamer Rodriguez | PNP | |
| VI - Guayama | Vacant | PNP |
| Carlos J. Torres Torres | PNP | |
| VII - Humacao | José R. Díaz Hernández | PNP |
| Luz M. Santiago Gonzalez | PNP | |
| VIII - Carolina | Roger Iglesias | PNP |
| Lornna Soto Villanueva | PNP | |
| At-Large | Luz Arce Ferrer | PNP |
| Eduardo Bhatia | PPD | |
| Norma Burgos | PNP | |
| José Luis Dalmau | PPD | |
| Antonio Fas Alzamora | PPD | |
| Alejandro García Padilla | PPD | |
| Sila María González Calderón | PPD | |
| Juan Eugenio Hernández Mayoral | PPD | |
| Margarita Nolasco Santiago | PNP | |
| Eder E. Ortíz Ortíz | PPD | |
| Itzamar Peña Ramírez | PNP | |
| Thomas Rivera Schatz | PNP | |
| Melinda Romero Donnelly | PNP | |
| Cirilo Tirado Rivera | PPD | |
| Jorge Suárez Cáceres | PPD |
| Party | Pre-Election Seats |
District Votes |
District Seats |
% of Votes |
At-Large Votes |
At-Large Seats |
% of Votes |
+/- | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Progressive | 17 | 1,887,968 | 11 | 52.72 | 913,907 | 6 | 48.4 | +5 | 22 | |
| Popular Democratic | 9 | 1,535,545 | 5 | 42.88 | 818,770 | 4 | 43.4 | -4 | 5 | |
| Puerto Rican Independence | 1 | 76,555 | 0 | 2.14 | 82,577 | 0 | 4.41 | -1 | 0 | |
| Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico | 0 | 79,386 | 0 | 2.21 | 37,457 | 0 | 2.92 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independent | 0 | - | 0 | 0.0 | 16,269 | 0 | 0.87 | 0 | 0 | |
| Others | 0 | 1,572 | 0 | 0.0 | 549 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 3,581,026 | 16 | 1,869,529 | 11 | 27 | ||||
The following is a list of former Senators of Puerto Rico, along with their years of service and the senatorial district they represented.
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