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Puerto Rico

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The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The structure and responsibilities of the Assembly are defined in Article Three of the Constitution of Puerto Rico.

The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is bicameral, meaning that it has two houses, namely:

• the Senate of Puerto Rico, the upper house, and
• the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, the lower house.

Contents 1 Unicameralism 1.1 Resolution 64 2 See also 3 External links 4 References

In a referendum held on July 10, 2005, Puerto Rican voters approved the change to a unicameral legislature by 456,267 votes in favor, versus 88,720 against.^[1] (Voter turnout was 22.6% of the electorate.)^[2] However, another referendum will be held in 2007 to approve the specific amendments to the Constitution of Puerto Rico that are required for the change. If those constitutional changes are likewise approved, Puerto Rico will switch to a unicameral legislature by 2009.

It should be noted that currently, Puerto Rico has a total of 78 legislators: 27 senators and 51 representatives. This means that in Puerto Rico there is 1 legislator for every 50,213 citizens, in comparison to Nebraska, which has a unicameral legislature with 1 legislator for every 35,000 citizens. If Puerto Ricans adopt a system similar to the Nebraska Legislature, the Puerto Rican unicameral legislature would be composed of at least 111 legislators, 33 more than the current number. Although this is not completely certain, as all of the proposed bills to create the Unicameral Assembly have it consisting of 40 to 75 members, which could even reduce the actual number of members.

On May 19, 2006 Senators Kenneth McClintock and Luz Arce presented a resolution by petition of the Bar Association in order to amend Article III, IV, V, VI, and VII of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, and to repeal Article VIII.^[3] Most of the proposed amendments deal with replacing the words 'Senate' and 'House' for 'Legislative Assembly', while changing all references to 'senators' and 'representatives' to legislators. Other amendments propose that:

• the Legislative Assembly becomes unicameral,
• the new unicameral Legislative Assembly would be composed of 51 legislators,
• for electoral purposes, Puerto Rico would be divided into 40 electoral districts,
• each one of these districts would elect 1 legislator,
• the people of Puerto Rico would elect 11 legislators at-large,
• no political party would be able to nominate candidates for the at-large bids,
• these at-large bids would be independent of political parties,
• no person would be able to figure simultaneously as legislator by district and at-large,
• each voter would be able to vote for at most 11 legislators at-large
• the 11 candidates for legislator at-large with most votes would become the aforementioned legislators at-large,
• the division of the electoral districts would be revised after each census starting on 2010, and that
• no person would be able to become a member of the new unicameral Legislative Assembly if he or she isn't 25 years old or older by the time of election or appointment.

These amendments propose that Puerto Ricans would have 1 legislator for every 97,915 citizens; more than two and half times the ratio of legislator to citizens when compared to Nebraska, meaning that each Puerto Rican legislator would have more than the double of citizens than a Nebraska legislator has entitled to look for (97,915 vs. 35,000). If the amendments are approved, it would be the first time in Puerto Rican history that a candidate is elected in non-partisan democracy. The amendments also propose, for the first time, that the division of electoral districts is revised periodically. Finally, a lower age for the new unicameral legislators is proposed in comparison to the one required in order to become a member of the Senate — it is, however, the same age required in order to be a member of the House today.

The amendments also propose the repeal of Article VIII which deals on how to divide Puerto Rico in order to elect senators and representatives by district. The article wouldn't make sense under unicameralism. For this reason the new division for legislators by districts would be dictated by an amendment to Article III.

• 15th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

• www.oslpr.org - official site for the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, accessible in Spanish and English.

1. ^ María Vera. "Trabajan borrador unicameralidad", El Vocero. Retrieved on October 2, 2006.
2. ^ La Participación Ciudadana en los Procesos Electorales en Puerto Rico (PDF). Oficina de Asuntos Legales. Comisión Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico (CEEPUR) / State Electoral Commission. Retrieved on October 2, 2006. (via http://www.ceepur.org/sobreCee/leyElectoral/)
3. ^ Resolución Concurrente del Senado 64 (PDF). Senate of Puerto Rico (2006-05-19). Retrieved on May 22, 2006.

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