House finance committee approves $13.06 billion substitute budget, sends measure to full House

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The House Committee on Finance and Budget approved a substitute to Joint Resolution 624 on Tuesday, voting to allocate $13,062 million from the state general fund for operating expenses across the executive, judicial and legislative branches.

The committee, meeting in a public final-consideration session, voted 11 in favor and five abstentions after the committee director read the circulated substitute and confirmed that no amendments had been filed in the required period. The director, Maritere Bagnetti, told the record the committee had circulated notice and the measure on June 3.

The committee—s presiding officer opened the session by outlining the process used to evaluate the governor—s draft and changes suggested by the Fiscal Oversight Board—s technical staff. He said the total appropriation remained "trece mil sesenta y dos millones de dólares" and described several account-level adjustments intended to address specific agency needs and municipal distribution processes.

Among the changes highlighted: a $7 million reserve set aside for the comptroller—s office to implement a classification and compensation plan; a targeted reduction of about 10% in some "confianza" (trusted) positions with exemptions for very small agencies or those composed entirely of trusted employees; and direction that funds from those reductions be routed to a reserve to support "amas de llave" programs for elder care, an amount the president said "genera más o menos seis millones de dólares." He said the changes were modest and aimed to preserve the overall budget while addressing programmatic priorities.

The presiding officer also said distributions to municipalities for certain agreements would follow the expedited mechanism used for a previous $30 million essential‑services fund, a change intended to accelerate local access to allocated money. He said funds for the University of Puerto Rico were placed in a reserve pending additional information requested by the Fiscal Oversight Board.

The session included an example of a project increase mentioned by a member identified as Lizzy Burgo: the item had originally been allocated $200,000 and was to be raised in committee to $3 million, the presiding officer said.

After the roll call, which recorded multiple "a favor" responses and several abstentions (including at least one abstention recorded for Morey Noble and for a member identified as Ramos Rivera), the clerk announced the substitute had obtained 11 votes in favor and five abstentions and that the measure had been approved by the committee. The presiding officer asked the director to prepare a certification of the public final-consideration session and the approved text for his signature and for filing with the corresponding positive report as required by chamber rules.

The committee adjourned at 11:42 a.m. with the substitute set to proceed to the full House and, if approved there, to the Senate where additional changes could be made in a conference committee.