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Puerto Rico hearing backs raising youth committee age from 29 to 35 for credit unions
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Summary
A House of Representatives commission heard broad support March 12 for House Bill 220, which would raise the maximum age for members of cooperative credit unions' youth committees from 29 to 35; regulators and cooperative leaders also urged removing a mandatory minimum-member rule and strengthening the bill's justification with demographic data.
San Juan — The House of RepresentativesCommission on Cooperativism held a public hearing Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at the Capitol in San Juan on House Bill 220, a proposal to amend Article 5.19 of Law 255 of 2002 to raise the maximum age for members of youth committees in savings and credit cooperatives from 29 to 35.
Supporters told the commission that demographic shifts and recruitment challenges have made the current age cap and rigid membership rules difficult to meet. "The League of Cooperatives concurs with the proposal to expand the age limit," said Heriberto Martnez Otero, executive director of the League of Cooperatives of Puerto Rico. Regulatory and sector groups including the Corporacin para la Supervisin y Seguro de Cooperativas (COSEC) and the Asociacin de Ejecutivos de Cooperativas (ASEC) expressed general support for the bill while urging additional changes.
Proponents said the measure would give cooperatives more flexibility to sustain youth committees, which several witnesses said some small cooperatives have been unable to form under the current law. Mabel Jimnez Miranda, executive president of COSEC, said the agency has identified five savings-and-credit cooperatives that currently lack an operative youth committee and therefore cannot be certified in good standing. "We recommend eliminating the mandatory minimum number of members on the youth committee and allow each cooperative to determine the composition according to its capacity," Jimnez said.
Why it matters: witnesses told the commission a shrinking population of young adults and lower recruitment interest have constrained many cooperatives' ability to meet the 18-to-29 age band and the statutory requirement of three to five youth committee members. COSEC cited data from the Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico indicating the population aged roughly 20to30 declined between 2010 and 2019 by 17.38 percent, from 752,417 to 621,651, a trend witnesses argued makes stricter limits impractical.
Details and context: testimony described active outreach by cooperatives and cooperative institutions to recruit young members through school programs, financial-education sessions and social media. Iris Valles Rivera, executive president of Cooperativa Morobea1a and a director within ASEC, described in-school programs and community events used to attract youth. Heriberto Martnez Otero added that systemwide activities such as youth poetry and oratory contests have drawn large numbers of young participants and that cooperatives are experimenting with digital outreach as younger people increasingly use mobile apps and online investment platforms.
Speakers also raised related policy questions. Several witnesses and members suggested the bill's explanatory statement could be strengthened with additional demographic citations and comparisons to international cooperative youth structures. One witness suggested considering a broader legislative review to consolidate multiple cooperative laws into a single code; supporters said that would require further study.
Formal action: the hearing was a fact-finding session; no formal vote on the bill took place during the commission meeting. Lawmakers indicated they will consider amendments informed by the testimony and follow up with stakeholders.
The commission recessed and then closed its session at about 10:51 a.m. after saying it would remain open to additional submissions and data to craft amendments aimed at easing compliance burdens while encouraging youth participation in cooperative governance.
