15th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

{{short description|Session of the Puerto Rico Legislature}}

{{More citations needed|date=November 2014}}

The 15th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico met from January 2, 2005, to January 1, 2009. All members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were elected in the General Elections of 2004. The House and the Senate both had a majority of members from the New Progressive Party. It was the second time in Puerto Rican history in which the majority of the Assembly was from a different party than of the Governor of Puerto Rico.

Meetings were held regarding the political status of Puerto Rico.{{cite book | author=United States | title=Report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status: Oversight Hearing Before the Committee on Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session, Thursday, April 27, 2006 | publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office | series=Report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status: Oversight Hearing Before the Committee on Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session, Thursday, April 27, 2006 | issue=v. 4 | year=2006 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ulGbvWQmusC&pg=PA96 | access-date=2020-07-22 | page=96}}

Major legislation

  • Tax Justice Act (Ley de Justicia Contributiva), also known as the Puerto Rico tax reform.
  • Government Fiscal Reform Act (Ley de Reforma Fiscal Gubernamental)

Senate leadership

class="wikitable"
Office

! Senator

! Party

! District

President

| Kenneth McClintock

| NPP

| Elected as a Senator At-Large

Vice President

| Orlando Parga

| NPP

| Elected as a Senator At-Large

Rules Committee Chair

| Margarita Nolasco

| NPP

| District VI (House Districts 26-30) Guayama

Majority Leader

| Margarita Nolasco

| NPP

| District VI (House Districts 26-30) Guayama

Minority Leader

| Jose Luis Dalmau

| PDP

| District VII (House Districts 31-35) Humacao

Minority Leader

| Maria de Lourdes Santiago

| PIP

| Elected as a Senator At-Large

Majority Whip

| Carlos Pagán

| NPP

| District IV (House Districts 16-20) Mayagüez

Minority Whip

| Sila Mari González Calderón

| PDP

| Elected as a Senator At-Large

House leadership

class="wikitable"
Office

! Representative

! Party

! District

Speaker of the House

| Jose Aponte

| NPP

| Elected as a Representative At-Large

Speaker Pro Tem

| Epifanio Jiménez, Jr.

| NPP

| District 40 Carolina

Majority Leader

| Iris Miriam Ruiz

| NPP

| Elected as a Representative At-Large

Minority Leader

| Hector Ferrer

| PDP

| Elected as a Representative At-Large

Minority Leader

| Víctor García San Inocencio

| PIP

| Elected as a Representative At-Large

Members

Members of the 15th Legislative Assembly as of June 2005:

=Senate=

There are 17 NPP, 9 PDP, and 1 PIP in the higher chamber of the 15th Legislative Assembly

class="wikitable sortable"
Senator

! Party

! District

Modesto Agosto Alicea

| PDP

| District Num. V (District 21-25) Ponce

Lucy Arce

| NPP

| Senator At-Large

Roberto Arango

| NPP

| District Num. I (District 1-5) San Juan

Eudaldo Baez Galib

| PDP

| Senator At-Large

Norma Burgos

| NPP

| Senator At-Large

Jose Luis Dalmau

| PDP

| District Num. VII (District 31-35) Humacao

Jorge de Castro Font

| NPP

| Senator At-Large

Carlos Díaz

| NPP

| District Num. I (District 1-5) San Juan

Antonio Fas Alzamora

| PDP

| Senator At-Large

Jose Garriga Pico

| NPP

| Senator At-Large

Sila Mari González Calderón

| PDP

| Senator At-Large

Jose Emilio Gonzalez Velazquez

| NPP

| District Num. III (District 11-15) Arecibo

Juan Hernandez Mayoral

| PDP

| Senator At-Large

Sixto Hernandez Serrano (resigned in 2006 upon confirmation as appeals judge)

| PDP

| District Num. VII (District 31-35) Humacao

Víctor David Loubriel (resigned during 2nd day in office)

| NPP

| District Num. II (District 11-15) Arecibo

Hector Martinez

| NPP

| District Num. VII (District 36-40) Carolina

Kenneth McClintock

| NPP

| Senator At-Large

Luis Daniel Muñiz

| NPP

| District Num. IV (District 16-20) Mayaguez

Margarita Nolasco

| NPP

| District Num. VI (District 26-30) Guayama

Carlos Pagan

| NPP

| District Num. IV (District 16-20) Mayaguez

Orlando Parga

| NPP

| Senator At-Large

Migdalia Padilla

| NPP

| District Num. II (District 6-10) Bayamón

Bruno Ramos

| PDP

| District Num. V (District 21-25) Ponce

Carmelo Ríos

| NPP

| District Num. II (District 6-10) Bayamón

Pedro Rosselló (Sworn in Feb. 13, 2005; selected to fill Sen. Loubriel's vacancy)

| NPP

| District Num. II (District 11-15) Arecibo

Maria de Lourdes Santiago

| PIP

| Senator At-Large

Lornna Soto

| NPP

| District Num. VII (District 36-40) Carolina

Jorge Suárez Cáceres (selected 2006 to fill Sen. Hernández Serrano's vacancy)

| PDP

| District Num. VII (District 31-35) Humacao

Cirilo Tirado

| PDP

| District Num. VI (District 26-30) Guayama

=House of Representatives (incomplete)=

class="wikitable sortable"
Representative

! Party

! District

Francisco González

| PNP

| District Num. 1 San Juan

Luis Raúl Torres

| PPD

| District Num. 2 San Juan

Albita Rivera

| PNP

| District Num. 3 San Juan

Liza Fernandez

| PNP

| District Num. 4 San Juan

Jorge Navarro Suárez

| PNP

| District Num. 5 San Juan

Angel Pérez Otero

| PNP

| District Num. 6

Luis Pérez Ortíz

| PNP

| District Num. 7

Antonio Silva

| PNP

| District Num. 8

Nelson Del Valle

| PNP

| District Num. 9

Bernardo Márquez

| PNP

| District Num. 10

Jose Javier Garcia

| PPD

| District Num. 11

Hector A. Torres

| PNP

| District Num. 12

Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló

| PNP

| District Num. 13

Carlos Molina

| PNP

| District Num. 14

Jose E. Concepción

| PNP

| District Num. 15

Sergio Ortiz

| PPD

| District Num. 16

José L. Rivera

| PNP

| District Num. 17

Julio C. Roman

| PNP

| District Num. 18

Carlos M. Hernandez

| PPD

| District Num. 19

Norman Ramírez

| PNP

| District Num. 20

Lydia Méndez

| PPD

| District Num. 21

Javier A. Rivera

| PNP

| District Num. 22

Rafael A. Garcia

| PPD

| District Num. 23

Roberto Cruz

| PPD

| District Num. 24

Ramon A. Reyes

| PPD

| District Num. 25

Jose L. Jimenez

| PNP

| District Num. 26

Carmen I. Gonzalez

| PPD

| District Num. 27

Rafael Rivera Ortega

| PNP

| District Num. 28

Pedro I. Cintron

| PNP

| District Num. 29

Jorge L. Ramos

| PNP

| District Num. 30

Sylvia Rodríguez

| PPD

| District Num. 31

José "Conny" Varela

| PNP

| District Num. 32

Angel R. Peña

| PNP

| District Num. 33

Cristóbal Colón Ruiz

| PNP

| District Num. 34

Joel Rosario

| PPD

| District Num. 35

Carlos Mendez

| PNP

| District Num. 36

Angel Bulerín

| PNP

| District Num. 37

Pedro A. Rodríguez

| PPD

| District Num. 38

Roberto Rivera Ruiz

| PPD

| District Num. 39

Epifanio Jiménez

| PNP

| District Num. 40

Jose F. Aponte

| PNP

| Representative At-Large

Iris Miriam Ruiz

| PNP

| Representative At-Large

María de Lourdes Ramos

| PNP

| Representative At-Large

Jenniffer González

| PNP

| Representative At-Large

José Chico Vega

| PNP

| Representative At-Large

Rolando Crespo

| PNP

| Representative At-Large

Héctor Ferrer

| PPD

| Representative At-Large

Carlos Vizcarrondo

| PPD

| Representative At-Large

Ferdinand Pérez

| PPD

| Representative At-Large

Jorge Colberg Toro

| PPD

| Representative At-Large

Víctor García San Inocencio

| PIP

| Representative At-Large

Changes in membership

=Senate=

class="wikitable"
valign=top

! District

! Former senator

! Reason for change

! Successor

! Date of successor's
installation

III - Arecibo

| nowrap {{party shading/Democratic}} | Víctor David Loubriel

| style="font-size:80%" | Resigned January 4, 2005 (2 days after being sworn in)

| nowrap {{party shading/Democratic}} | Pedro Rosselló

| February 13, 2005

VII - Humacao

| nowrap {{party shading/Republican}} | Sixto Hernández Serrano

| style="font-size:80%" | Resigned August 16, 2006 after being confirmed as an appeals judge.

| nowrap {{party shading/Republican}} | Jorge Suárez Cáceres

| August 31, 2006

Changes in leadership

Notes

This is not the first time that the majority of the Legislature has been of a party different from the governor. In 1969–1972, the NPP controlled the House, the PDP controlled the Senate and the Governor was the late Luis A. Ferré (NPP). Between 1981 and 1984 the Governor was Carlos Romero Barceló (NPP) and the Senate from 1981 to 1984, and the House from 1982 to 1984, were controlled by the PDP.

{{Portal|Puerto Rico|Politics}} {{clear}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}