Legislative Branch
Article III of the Puerto Rico Constitution grants all legislative powers of the national government to the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, which is divided into two chambers: a 27 member Senate and a 51 member House of Representatives. The chambers are presided over by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House, respectively. Both positions are occupied by an active member of each body, elected by a majority of both chambers. The current heads are Senator Thomas Rivera Schatz and Representative Jennifer Gonzalez, respectively.
Members are elected to both chambers in general elections held every four years, along with the elections for the Governor and the 78 municipal mayor (Alcalde in Spanish) positions. Each member represents an electoral district, with the exception of a number of Senators who are considered “at-large” (Por Acumulación in Spanish) and represent the island as a whole. Members representing specific districts are elected by the citizens residing within the district, while “at-large” Senators are elected by accumulation of all island votes for a specific political party.
Read more about this topic: Government Of Puerto Rico
Famous quotes containing the words legislative and/or branch:
“Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power vested in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, when the rule prescribes not, and not to be subject to the inconstant, unknown, arbitrary will of another man.”
—John Locke (1632–1704)
“In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)