Ley 72 del 2006
Resumen
Esta ley enmienda la Ley de la Oficina del Procurador de las Personas con Impedimentos para requerir a las agencias gubernamentales la designación de funcionarios que inspeccionen sus instalaciones y asegurar el cumplimiento de leyes de acceso para personas con impedimentos. También crea un Banco de Enlaces capacitados en leyes estatales y federales.
Contenido
(No. 72)
(Approved March 29, 2006)
AN ACT
To add subsections k and 1 to Section 9 of Act No. 2 of September 27, 1985, as amended, known as the "Act of the Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official," in order for the Office to require each one of the agencies, departments, or instrumentalities the designation of one or more officials to conduct inspections of their respective facilities and to create a Bank of Liaisons to be trained on Federal and Commonwealth laws.
STATEMENT OF MOTIVES
The Bill of Rights contained in Article II of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico sets forth in its Section 1 that "the dignity of the human being is inviolable." Therefore, our Constitution and government system have established structures devoted to social protection and to ensure the welfare of individuals. In order to attain this, and due to the growing population of persons with disabilities in Puerto Rico since the 80s, a number of initiatives to guarantee full participation of persons with disabilities in our social environment have been developed.
The Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official was created by Act No. 2 of September 27, 1985, as amended, as a liaison between the population of persons with disabilities and social structures at the private and public levels. However, regardless of the existence of this liaison and the legal and legislative advances to fight for the rights of persons with disabilities, there still much to be done.
Among the most important areas that need improvement is the persons with disabilities access to government services and programs. The direct consequence of this lacking of access to available services is the delay and paralyzation of the process of inclusion of the persons with disabilities.
For all the above, in its effort to include all persons with disabilities this Legislature proposes this initiative.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO:
Section 1.- Subsections k and $l$ are hereby added to Section 9 of Act No. 2 of September 27, 1985, as amended, known as the "Act of the Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official," to read as follows: "Section 9.- Office - Functions and Responsibilities In addition to any other functions and responsibilities provided in this Chapter or in the statutes or programs whose administration and implementation are delegated to it, the Office shall:
(a) ...
(k) Require from every agency, department, and/or instrumentality of the three Government branches the designation of one or more officials to conduct inspections in the facilities of the three Government branches to ensure their compliance with Commonwealth and Federal laws which guarantee access to persons with disabilities, and establish in coordination with agencies, departments, and/or instrumentalities to carry out corrective plans. Each agency, department, and/or instrumentality shall submit to the Office its findings on the inspection of the facilities. The Office shall review the results of the inspections and shall establish corrective action plans in the dependency. The Office shall follow up corrective
action plans and certify the compliance of the three Government branches agencies, departments, and/or instrumentalities. (1) The officials designated under subsection
(k) of this Act shall be employed by the Office to create a Bank of Liaisons to be trained on Commonwealth and Federal laws.
Section 2.- This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days after its approval.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 72 (S.B. 1086) of the 3 ${ }^{ ext {rd }}$ Session of the $15^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to add subsections k and 1 to Section 9 of Act No. 2 of September 27, 1985, as amended, known as the "Act of the Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official," in order for the Office to require each one of the agencies, departments, or instrumentalities the designation of one or more officials to conduct inspections of their respective facilities and to create a Bank of Liaisons to be trained on Federal and Commonwealth laws, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $12^{ ext {th }}$ of January of 2007.
Francisco J. Domenech Director