Ley 115 del 2008

(House Substitute for H. B. 1276, H. B. 1469, H. B. 3313, H. B. 3371, H. B. 4217 and H. B. 4276) (No. 115) (Approved July 17, 2008)

AN ACT

To amend Section 2 of Act No. 97 of June 19, 1968, as amended, in order to eliminate the raise in salary of the members of the Legislature of Puerto Rico corresponding to the Legislative quadrennium commencing on January 1, 2009, and for other related purposes.

STATEMENT OF MOTIVES

During the decades prior to the approval of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the members of the Legislature of Puerto Rico received compensation for their services mainly through the payment of per diems and transportation allowances for their attendance to sessions and hearings. These citizen legislators had to earn their families livelihood through regular jobs, the practice of their professions and the administration of their own businesses, and by making the necessary arrangements to carry out the legislative work during the sessions, which were of short duration.

Subsequently, it was deemed necessary to establish a fixed (though modest) salary for legislators, which had to be increased through legislation in a number of occasions even though they still were allowed to keep their regular jobs, the practice of their professions and the administration of their own businesses. As the complexity of the government grew, the legislative personnel and the calendar of sessions also increased. These increases

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required the assignment of more resources to the legislative works, which had as one of its disastrous consequences, the occurrence of situations prone to irregularities.

Although the number of legislators who neglected their legislative works or who used the resources of the Legislature for their own benefit was scarce, the abuse of public trust continued to be the cause of the indignation of the People. The practice of opening legislative sessions during the night and the voting during the wee hours of the morning also contributed to the exasperation of the citizens toward their representatives in the Legislature. Hence, the public opinion demanded that the mechanisms be strengthened so that legislators would give priority to the work they were elected to perform.

The reactions to the above situation led to a process that began with Act No. 13 of June 24, 1989, which provided a raise in the compensation of legislators, and established the priority of the legislative work. It was concluded that a fixed work schedule would be created and that income from outside sources would be restricted, pursuant to Act No. 235 of December 16, 1995, which renumbered the former Section 1 of Act No. 97 of June 19, 1968, as Section 2, and created the "Full-time Legislator." Finally, Act No. 81 of June 10, 1998 was approved, to establish an automatic review system of these officers' salaries whereby the Planning Board of Puerto Rico would certify to the Presiding Officers no later than the $15^{ ext {th }}$ of November of the last year of the legislative four-year term the variation in the general consumer price index during the preceding four (4) fiscal years to use it as a basis for computing the salary the legislators would receive. This implies that legislators receive a raise in salary according to the increase in the cost of living.

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This provision, however, is not attuned to the budgetary reality faced by the Government and the People of Puerto Rico. A study conducted by the Graduate School of Public Administration of the University of Puerto Rico states that in view of the figures compiled for the inflation rate since 2004, the raise to be granted for per diems and salaries in 2009, would be as high as 41.7%. No public servant has experienced such a raise in his/her income during the past four or eight years, and accepting such increase would show a disparity between the legislators and the people that they represent. Furthermore, it would be in contravention to Act No. 81 of June 10, 1998, whose Section 1 sets forth as its statement of Public Policy that "[b]ecause of their nature as citizen legislators their salary shall always be less than that of their counterparts in the Executive Branch, the Secretaries of the Constitutional cabinet and their counterparts in the Judiciary Branch, the Justices of the Supreme Court." That is to say that it did not foresee an unlimited raise in the salaries of legislators.

Article VI, Section 11 of the Constitution of Puerto Rico provides that any reduction of the salaries of the members of the Legislative Assembly shall only be effective during the term of the Legislative Assembly that approves it. For this reason, a cut in salary would be ineffective, because its duration would only be for the current quadrennium.

However, it is evident and unquestionable that, the automatic salary review of legislators corresponding to the Legislative quadrennium commencing on January 1, 2009, should be eliminated as a measure of austerity and in view of the critical economic recession that our Island is undergoing. This shall allow that the new Legislature elected in the forthcoming elections may conduct any additional reforms it deems necessary for the best operation of the Legislative Chambers.

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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO:

Section 1.- Section 2 of Act No. 97 of June 19, 1968, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 2.- Salaries and Emoluments to Members- Annual Salary Each member of the Legislature shall receive an annual salary of sixty thousand (60,000) dollars, payable twice a month, except for the Vicepresidents of each House who shall receive a salary of sixty-nine thousand (69,000) dollars each. The President and Speaker of the Bodies shall receive an annual salary of ninety thousand (90,000) dollars each, the Floor Leaders of all political parties sixty-nine thousand (69,000) each, and the Chairpersons of the Ways and Means Committee and the Committee on Government of the Senate and the House of Representatives, shall each receive an annual salary of sixty-nine thousand (69,000) dollars.

In order to fix the total annual salary, the Planning Board of Puerto Rico shall certify to the respective presiding officers of each Body, no later than the 15th of November of the last year of the legislative four-year term, the variation in the general consumer price index during the previous four (4) fiscal years. The salary corresponding to the following four-year term shall be determined on the basis of the salary in effect at the time of the revision and on the variation in the general consumer price index as prepared by the Department of Labor and Human Resources and certified by the Board. Provided, that the Planning Board shall issue the first of these certifications on time so that the first adjustment may be effective on January 1, 2005. No adjustment shall be made to the annual adjusted salary of the members of the Legislature during the four-year term of the Legislature commencing on January 1, 2009.

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Legislators shall perform their official and representative duties on a full-time basis, which shall mean that they shall not render any lucrative work other than their legislative duties from eight thirty in the morning (8:00 [sic] a.m.) to six o'clock (6:00 p.m.) in the afternoon from Monday to Friday, nor during hours when the House or the committees to which he/she belongs are in session, whether during the day or at night, on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. The violation of this provision shall be exclusively sanctioned by each Legislative Body, pursuant to the provisions established in the Code of Ethics adopted by each Body, by virtue of Sec. 9 of Art. III of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Outside income other than that as a legislator shall mean all compensation, salary, remuneration, professional fees, benefits or any other payment or amount a legislator receives or earns for personal services rendered in or for any business, trade, corporation or enterprise, association or entity. The legislator shall not render personal services to any person or entity during the periods stated above, which may cause any of the benefits listed above to be received by the legislator or by his/her family members within a second degree of consanguinity or affinity, and which are not salaries and reimbursements for per diems provided by this Act.

For the purposes of this provision, none of the benefits the legislators receive on account of rent, interests, dividends, child support, community property apportionment, judicial compensation, prizes, legal gift between relatives up to the sixth degree of consanguinity, capital transactions, copyrights and patents, nor the benefits or compensations from any private insurance or pension plan, nor any income from any joint ownership which the legislator is a party to, nor income from community property in benefit of the legislator, nor benefits or payments for services in the Armed Forces

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of Puerto Rico or the United States of America, and compensations of insurance systems of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico whose contributions or premiums have been paid in whole or in part, by the legislator him/herself or a government agency or entity, or any enterprise, business, undertaking, corporation, partnership, estate or any other entity to which the legislator renders or has rendered personal services, shall be deemed to be outside income. Nor shall those payments or amounts or compensation, salaries, remuneration, professional fees, benefits earned or received by the legislator for personal services rendered prior to, but paid to the legislator after the effective date of this act, be deemed to be income other than that as a legislator.

This prohibition does not include additional sources of income acquired with the salary or sources of income allowed to the legislator.

No later than April 30, 1997, every legislator shall file a sworn statement before the Office of the Secretary of the corresponding Body stating all the sources of income he/she had as of January 2, 1997, as well as the total amount and nature of all accounts receivable as of December 31 of the preceding calendar year. Annually, after that date, he/she shall notify any change that may have occurred during the preceding year. This sworn statement shall be a public document. No payments for salary or per diems shall be credited to any legislator who has not complied with the obligation of filing the sworn statement by the date established, until it is filed.

The legislators shall only have a net income, other than as a legislator in any calendar year, up to an amount that shall not exceed thirty-five percent ( 35% ) of the total salary they are entitled to in accordance with this Section, plus the reimbursements for per diems established in this Act. In the event that a legislator earns other income than that as a legislator, he/she

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shall refund or return to the corresponding Body the salaries earned during the respective calendar year, in the proportion that such income exceeds the percentage established above, but never more than half of the salaries earned in said year. A legislator may waive the salary appropriated herein through a written communication to the President of the Body to which he/she belongs. In such case, he/she shall receive the salary in effect on January 2, 1989, without being subject to the limitation concerning the legislator outside income."

Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.

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CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 115 (House Substitute for H. B. 1276, H. B. 1469, H. B. 3313, H. B. 3371, H. B. 4217 and H. B. 4276) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $15^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:

AN ACT to amend Section 2 of Act No. 97 of June 19, 1968, as amended, in order to eliminate the raise in salary of the members of the Legislature of Puerto Rico corresponding to the Legislative quadrennium commencing on January 1, 2009, and for other related purposes, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $30^{ ext {th }}$ of September of 2008.

Francisco J. Domenech Director