The general secretary of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Juan Dalmau Ramírez, joined by the party’s delegation in the Puerto Rico Legislature, announced on Wednesday a package of legislative measures to strengthen transparency, oversight and accountability in the government. The measures would tighten controls over the contracting of professional services, prohibit lobbyists from taking part in public contracting processes, and limit the Governor’s ability to delegate responsibilities through executive orders, preventing the evasion of appointment processes and the powers of other officials and agencies.
Denis Márquez Lebrón, the PIP’s spokesperson in the House of Representatives, said public controversies over contracts and auctions show that the appearance of privileged access can undermine public trust even without proven wrongdoing, and that prevention requires fully separating paid lobbying from decisions involving public money. He noted House Bill 1333, filed by the PIP delegation last July after public accusations of conflicts of interest and use of the secretary of the Governor’s office to influence public policy and government contracting; the bill would set clear limits on the Governor’s delegation or transfer of powers and bar the appointment of anyone who lobbied within the 15 years before designation.
The delegation also reaffirmed support for House Bill 797 to return control of the electrical system to the people of Puerto Rico. Alternate House spokesperson Adriana Gutiérrez Colón and Dalmau Ramírez also spoke against improvised powers and executive orders used to concentrate authority.