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House commission reviews bills on child protection and elder-care; debates $3 police-pension fee, lacks quorum and sends measures to referendum
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Summary
The House of Representatives' Commission on Social Welfare reviewed amendments to Family First, elder-care emergency mitigation and a bill to fund police pensions (a proposed $3 certification fee); the committee circulated measures but lacked quorum and opted to submit the amended texts to a referendum vote scheduled later the same day.
The Commission on Social Welfare, Persons with Disabilities and Older Adults of the House of Representatives met June 4, 2024 to consider a cluster of social-justice bills, including changes to Family First child-protection law, emergency-mitigation steps for elder-care facilities and a proposal to fund police retirements.
The commission’s president (name not provided in the transcript), citing internal rules, described the agenda as focusing on ‘‘protección a menores y adultos mayores’’ and said the body would also consider ‘‘los fondos para el retiro para la policía de Puerto Rico.’’ On the police-pension item (identified in the record as Proyecto de la Cámara 1817), the president described an initial funding mechanism that would add ‘‘tres dólares a la solicitud de la certificación de la ley trescientos’’ but proposed an alternate administrative route to avoid directly charging citizens: “Sin embargo, en lugar de tocar el bolsillo de los ciudadanos... proponemos que el Departamento de Seguridad Pública, a través del Negociado de la Policía de Puerto Rico, expida la certificación”.
Under the approach outlined in the hearing, the funds collected by the Police Bureau would be directed ‘‘tres dólares para subvencionar los fondos del sistema de retiro de la policía de Puerto Rico’’ and applied through a revised retirement plan covering ranks governed by Law 44 of 1951 and Law 1 of 1990, the president said.
Iriseli Ortiz Pizarro, who identified herself ‘‘como directora de la Comisión de Bienestar Social, Personas con Discapacidad y Adultos Mayores,’’ told members the commission had circulated the measures with amendments on May 31, 2024 at 4:20 p.m. ‘‘En cumplimiento con lo dispuesto en la sección doce punto veintiuno A del reglamento... circuló a los miembros de esta comisión los proyectos... con enmiendas el pasado viernes treinta y uno de mayo veinte veinticuatro a las cuatro y veinte de la tarde,’’ she said. Griselly Ortiz added for the record that ‘‘no se recibieron enmiendas en el período dispuesto.’’
Before final votes could be held, the commission lacked the required quorum. As the director reported, ‘‘no tenemos el quórum reglamentario para realizar la votación final de los proyectos a ante nuestra consideración.’’ The president then invoked committee rules to submit the amended texts to a referendum vote under the chamber’s procedures and scheduled a meeting for committee members ‘‘hoy... a partir de la una de la tarde’’ to conduct that referendum vote.
No final votes or enactments were recorded in the transcript. With no other business, the commission adjourned at 10:16 a.m.
What comes next: The committee proceeded to schedule a referendum vote for the circulated and amended measures; the transcript does not record the result of that referendum or any subsequent action.
