| Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico Asamblea Legislativa de Puerto Rico |
|
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Senate | Thomas Rivera Schatz, (PNP) since January 1, 2009 |
| Speaker of the House | Jennifer González, (PNP) since January 1, 2009 |
| Members | 79 |
| Political groups | New Progressive Party Popular Democratic Party |
| Elections | |
| Last election | November 4, 2008 |
| Meeting place | |
| Capitol of Puerto Rico, San Juan | |
| Website | |
| http://www.oslpr.org/english | |
The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Asamblea Legislativa de Puerto Rico) is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The structure and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico.
The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper house Senate of Puerto Rico (Senado de Puerto Rico), with 31 senators, and the lower House of Representatives of Puerto Rico (Camara de Representantes), with 53 representatives. 11 members of each house are elected at-large, and not from any specific legislative district. All members of the Legislative Assembly are elected for a four-year term without term limits. The constitution vests all legislative power to the Legislative Assembly. As all laws must be passed by both houses in order to reach the governor's desk, each has its unique powers. Also the constitution states in the Article III, Section 9 that "...each house shall be the unique judge on the legal capacity of its members...". The Constitution also grants all elected members of the Legislative Assembly with parliamentary immunity.
The Legislative Assembly convenes at the capitol building in San Juan.
Contents |
The House of Representatives is the oldest legislative body in Puerto Rico. It was formed on November 25, 1897, when the Spanish government of Prime Minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta granted autonomy to the island, creating a House that was composed of 32 members. Beside the House there was also an Administrative Council of 15 members, eight of who where elected by a "Colegio de Compromisarios" and the other seven were named by the Governor General in representation of the Spanish monarch.
After the island's invasion by the United States on July 25, 1898 as part of the Spanish American War, a military government took over the island. This was until April 12, 1900 when the U.S. Congress approved the first civil government for Puerto Rico under the federal Foraker Act. The act granted the island with a civil governor (named by the U.S. President) and a House of Delegates composed of 35 members elected by the people of Puerto Rico, as well as an Executive Council of 11 members, designated all by the U.S. President, and six sitting members consisting of the governor's cabinet.
The political arrangement under the Foraker Act continued until 1917. On March 2 of that year, president Woodrow Wilson approved the Jones-Shafroth Act, which provided for the creation of an independent legislative branch for Puerto Rico, establishing a House of Representatives with 39 members and a Senate of 19 members, all elected directly by the people of the Island. Puerto Rico was then divided into 7 senatorial districts and 35 representative districts. The first Puerto Rican Senate was elected in July 1917.
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With the approval by U.S. Congress in July 1950 of Public Law 600, the island was divided into 8 senatorial districts and 40 representatives. Two years later on July 25, 1952 the Constitution of Puerto Rico was formally adopted, establishing the modern House of Representantes and Senate as the bicameral houses of the Legislative Assembly (as stated in Article III).
The Constitution of Puerto Rico vests all legislative powers in the Legislative Assembly. Each house has the sole power to by the judge of the legal capacities of its members. The members of both houses are protected by parliamentary immunity, which Article III, Section 14 states "no member of the Legislative Assembly shall be imprisoned...", they also shall not be held accountable for anything said in the floor.
Each House holds exclusive powers that are not given to the other. The House of Representatives has the exclusive power to initiate an impeachment process and the Senate the exclusive power to pass judgement. All laws dealing with the commonwealth budget or taxes must originate in the House of Representatives. The Senate retains the exclusive power to extend its consent to appointments to government offices made by the governor (judges, cabinet secretaries and others) as stated by law or Constitution.
The Legislative Assembly, with the consent of 2/3 of each chamber may propose amendments to the constitution. Proposed amendments are then subject to approval by the people of Puerto Rico in a referendum. It also has the power to consolidate or create municipalities.
Under Article III, Section 5, members of the Legislative Assembly must be bilingual in both Spanish and English, must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States, and have resided on Puerto Rico for two years. Senators must be over the age of 30, while House representatives must be over the age of 25. Both Senators and Representatives (except those elected at-large) must reside in their constituent district at least one year prior to their election.
In the unicameral referendum held on July 10, 2005, Puerto Rican voters approved the change to a unicameral legislature by 456,267 votes in favor, versus 88,720 against.[1] (Voter turnout was 22.6% of the electorate.)[2] Another referendum was scheduled for July 2007 to approve the specific amendments to the Constitution of Puerto Rico that are required for the change. However, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled in June that it could not force the Legislative Assembly to initiate a constitutional amendment process to become a single chamber legislature.[3] Further moves to unicameralism have been tabled.