Esta ley enmienda la Ley Núm. 42 de 5 de agosto de 1989, conocida como la "Ley de Política Pública de Compras con Preferencia del Gobierno de Puerto Rico", para añadir un nuevo deber a la Junta de Compras con Preferencia del Gobierno. El nuevo deber consiste en preparar y ofrecer un seminario de capacitación y conocimiento sobre la aplicación de la Ley de Política Pública de Compras con Preferencia a todos los miembros de las juntas de subastas de las agencias, municipios, departamentos, instrumentalidades, corporaciones públicas y dependencias. La asistencia a este seminario es un requisito indispensable para todos los miembros de la Junta de Subastas.
(Approved September 3, 2003)
To amend Act No. 42 of August 5, 1989, known as the "Preference Procurement Policy Act of the Government of Puerto Rico," to add a new duty to the Government Preference Procurement Board.
Act No. 42 of August 5, 1989, known as the "Preference Procurement Policy Act of the Government of Puerto Rico," establishes the public policy of the State pertaining to the procurement of merchandise, provisions, supplies, material, equipment and non-professional services by the Government for the purpose of ensuring that, by means of the use and preference procurement of Puerto Rican products, and through the contracting of non-professional services, the creation and continuance of employment and the establishing, permanence and extension of local commercial businesses, is promoted.
In addition, this Act seeks to adopt measures to guarantee an adequate representation of Puerto Rican products in all purchases made by the Government, whether by means of formal or informal bidding, open market, contracts, or special procedures. Finally, it seeks to maximize the potential of government purchases through the identification of the local production directed to the government procurement market, and the priority selection of industries whose effective benefit is greater in terms of employment.
This Legislature has decided to provide maximum attention to our local industry. To that extent, it is necessary for the persons who are in charge of the application of this Act under their jurisdiction, to be imbued of the public policy we seek to address. Therefore, we have decided, in our search to find ways to add effectiveness to this legislation, to include a new subsection in the responsibilities of the Board, which compels it to offer a training and cognizance seminar on the Preference Procurement Policy Act to all the members of competitive bidding activities in the different agencies of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Section 1.- Section 5 of Act No. 42 of August 5, 1989, known as the "Preference Procurement Policy Act," is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 5.- Powers of the Board The Board shall have, among others, the following duties:
(a) ...
(b) ...
(c) ...
(d) ...
(e) ...
(f) ...
(g) Prepare and offer a training, and cognizance seminar on the application of the Preference Procurement Policy Act, to all the members of the competitive bidding boards of the agencies, municipalities, departments, instrumentalities, public corporations and dependencies. This seminar shall be offered on the $15^{ ext {th }}$ of June, after each election year at the latest."
Section 2.- Attendance to the training seminar established in Section 1 of this Act, shall be an indispensable requirement for all members of the Bidding Board, unless a prior excuse is presented before the Board.
Section 3.- The Board shall prepare a report that shall include a summary of the training seminar established in Section 1 of this Act, stating the number of participants, as well as a detailed list of the agencies, and public bodies and municipalities that participated in it. This report shall be filed at the Office of the Secretary of both Legislative Bodies, and the Office of the Governor, on or before September 1, of the year that the training seminar took place.
Section 4.- Effectiveness This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 248 (H.B. 2591) of the $5^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Act No. 42 of August 5, 1989, known as the "Preference Procurement Policy Act of the Government of Puerto Rico," to add a new duty to the Government Preference Procurement Board, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $10^{ ext {th }}$ of September of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director