27th_Senate_of_Puerto_Rico
27th Senate of Puerto Rico
Session of the Puerto Rico Legislature
The 27th Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. Its counterpart in the lower house is the 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
| 27th Senate of Puerto Rico | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In session | |||||||||||||||||
| January 2, 2021 – January 1, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
| Leadership | |||||||||||||||||
| President | José Luis Dalmau Santiago | ||||||||||||||||
| President pro tem | Marially González Huertas | ||||||||||||||||
| Majority Leader | Javier Antonio Aponte Dalmau | ||||||||||||||||
| Majority Whip | Gretchen Hau | ||||||||||||||||
| Minority Leaders | Thomas Rivera Schatz Ana Irma Rivera Lassén Juan Dalmau Vargas Vidot Joanne Rodríguez Veve | ||||||||||||||||
| Minority Whips | Carmelo Ríos Santiago Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl | ||||||||||||||||
| Non-officers | |||||||||||||||||
| Secretary | Yamil Rivera Vélez [1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Sergeant-at-Arms | Javier Torres Rodríguez [2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Structure | |||||||||||||||||
| Seats | 27 voting members | ||||||||||||||||
| Parties represented | 12 PPD 10 PNP 2 MVC 1 PIP 1 PD 1 Ind. | ||||||||||||||||
| Length of term | 4 years | ||||||||||||||||
| Elections | |||||||||||||||||
| Last election | November 8, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Next election | November 5, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | |||||||||||||||||
| 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico | |||||||||||||||||
| Lower house | |||||||||||||||||
| 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico | |||||||||||||||||
| Sessions | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
28th → | |||||||||||||||||
The body will meet from January 2, 2021, to January 1, 2025, under the Federal Oversight and Management Board established by PROMESA.
The 27th Senate features a return to the standard composition of the body, with the number of senators decreasing to 27 from 30 in the 26th Senate of Puerto Rico, in accordance to Article III, Section 7 of the Constitution of Puerto Rico (1952). For the first time in the Constitutional period starting in 1952, there was no clear majority party for the body, with the plurality coming from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD in Spanish) at 12 seats of the 14 needed to have a majority when the body is at 27 members.
The body is counterparted by the 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico in the lower house. It has given advice and consent to the nominees put forth by Pedro Pierluisi.
Current leadership
Vote for President of the Senate
| Senatorial presidential election José Luis Dalmau Santiago (PPD) | |||
| Ballot → | 11 January 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 14 out of 27  Y | ||
Yes
|
14 / 27 | ||
No
|
0 / 27 | ||
13 / 27 | |||
Absentees
|
0 / 350 | ||
| Sources[4] | |||
| District | Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| District I San Juan | Juan O. Morales Rodríguez | PNP |
| Nitza Morán Trinidad | PNP | |
| District II Bayamón | Migdalia Padilla | PNP |
| Carmelo Ríos Santiago | PNP | |
| District III Arecibo | Elizabeth Rosa Vélez | PPD |
| Rubén Soto Rivera | PPD | |
| District IV Mayagüez–Aguadilla | Ada García Montes | PPD |
| Migdalia González Arroyo | PPD | |
| District V Ponce | Marially González Huertas | PPD |
| Ramón Ruiz Nieves | PPD | |
| District VI Guayama | Héctor Santiago Torres | PPD |
| Albert Torres Berríos | PPD | |
| District VII Humacao | Rosamar Trujillo Plumey | PPD |
| Wanda Soto Tolentino | PNP | |
| District VIII Carolina | Javier Aponte Dalmau | PPD |
| Marissa Jiménez Santoni | PNP | |
| At-large | Thomas Rivera Schatz | PNP |
| William Villafañe Ramos | PNP | |
| Gregorio Matías Rosario | PNP | |
| Keren Riquelme Cabrera | PNP | |
| Juan Zaragoza Gómez | PPD | |
| José Dalmau Santiago | PPD | |
| Ana Irma Rivera Lassén | MVC | |
| Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl | MVC | |
| María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón | PIP | |
| Joanne Rodríguez Veve | PD | |
| José Vargas Vidot | Independent |
| Post | Name | Political party |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary | Yamil Rivera Vélez[5] | PPD |
| Sergeant-at-Arms | Javier Torres Rodríguez [lower-alpha 1] | PPD |
A notable departure from previous senates is the addition of more commission presidencies from outside the largest party in the chamber. While the 26th Senate had an independent senator as president of the Commission for the Development of Community Initiatives, José Vargas Vidot, this current body assigned one commission presidency to each delegation, as may be better seen in this table of standing commissions.
Standing and Special Commissions
- Senate (2022) "Sesión Ordinaria, día 64"[6]
- "Certification of a company into the lobbying registry" (PDF). Oficina del Secretario del Senado. Senado de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- "Javier Torres". Funciones del Sargento de Armas. Senado de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- "Ley para Fijar la Duración de las Sesiones Ordinarias y los Plazos para la Radicación y la Consideración de Proyectos, Resoluciones Conjuntas y Resoluciones Concurrentes" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2 March 1997. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- "Diario de sesiones: Procedimientos y debates de la decimonovena Asamblea Legislativa, Iª Sesión Ordinaria" (PDF). senado.pr.gov (in Spanish). Senado de Puerto Rico. 11 January 2021. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- "Certificación (CERT-2021-0004" (PDF) (in Spanish). Senate of Puerto Rico. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- "Session Diaries of the Third Ordinary Session of the 19th Legislative Assembly" (PDF) (in Spanish). Senado de Puerto Rico. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- "Comisiones Permanentes 2021–2024 (translated to "Permanent Composition of Committees"" (PDF) (in Spanish). Senado Puerto Rico. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- "Public Safety and Veteran Affairs". senado.pr.gov.
