The president of the Senate, José Luis Dalmau Santiago, insisted on Sunday that the decision was made to address the salary increase for judges in the next Ordinary Session to have the Classification and Compensation Plan ready that would increase the salary of all employees of the Judicial Branch.
“From the beginning it was said that if the guarantees of the salary adjustments to the employees of the judicial branch are not tied, we are not in a position to consider any other project. That has always been the truth. As of today, not having the document that certifies (the Classification and Remuneration Plan), the caucus of my delegation agreed not to attend to the measure until it is certain that there is a certified and approved Classification Plan and that they can enter into force together,” said Dalmau Santiago.
“I also discussed it with some fellow spokespersons for the other parties and we expressed different ways of thinking as to whether or not the situation should be addressed in this way and the conclusion I received is that then this project must be addressed once the classification plan for judicial branch employees is certified by the Fiscal Oversight Board,” he added.
President of the Senate speaks about the legislative session.
The Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 100 and Senate Bill 854 were also approved to amend the “Act for the protection, conservation and management of coral reefs in Puerto Rico”, in order to adapt it to the public policy established in the Law No. 33-2019, known as the “Puerto Rico Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Act; clarify the use of fine proceeds; create a Special Fund; and establish the theft, trafficking and damage to protected corals and coral reefs as a crime and define their penalties.
“In response to the executive’s neglect, I presented Senate Project 854, which is one of those included in the substitute, and proposes the planting of corals and establishing controls that prevent activities that produce harmful sedimentation. It only remains to point out that they will be effective if the leadership of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources carries out its ministerial duty. The experience with the party held on the key is an eloquent denouncement of the institution’s lack of willingness to watch over our natural resources,” said Senator María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón.
In turn, Senator William Villafañe Ramos expressed that “this is an aquatic wall that helps us protect the coasts and marine life. The protection of the reefs is an advanced policy, and we must look for other mechanisms so that the reefs can heal and also cultivate them where they are needed on the coasts ”.
They call it an initiative for the stands.
In addition, Senate Joint Resolution 280 was approved, which seeks to order the Department of Transportation and Public Works, in conjunction with the municipalities of Puerto Rico, to identify the highways and bridges located near the water line or within the scope of flooding by sea level rise and develop an action plan so that these structures remain out of reach of the effects of flooding and coastal erosion.
In her turn on the measure, Senator María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón stated that “there are highways in Puerto Rico that are already absolutely impassable in the event of atmospheric events, with the consequence of leaving isolated communities and some, if an event of considerable magnitude arrives , they could simply collapse… In the report on the measure there are additional recommendations from the College of Engineers that the Department of Transportation and Public Works should adopt, which curiously opposes the approval of this measure.”
Finally, the High Body considered four calendars of measures during the last day of approval; Now the legislative pieces that are in pending matters, the appointments and the reports in the Conference Committee will be being attended to.
