Tax relief, housing, and environment take center stage in Puerto Rico’s special legislative session

Gov. Pierluisi stressed that the session will address essential areas such as critical infrastructure recovery, municipal concerns, and clarifications to recently passed laws.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi has called for a special legislative session to begin on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. As per the Puerto Rican Constitution, the session could extend up to 20 days and focuses on addressing critical legislative measures to support the island’s economic growth, infrastructure development, and fiscal management.

“The economy of Puerto Rico has improved to very positive levels, achieving, among other milestones, the lowest unemployment rate in our history. It is essential to continue enhancing our business conditions and maintaining well-paying jobs for our people. It is also necessary to evaluate legislation critical to Puerto Rico that did not complete the legislative process during the ordinary sessions of this Nineteenth Legislative Assembly, along with specific measures that directly impact Puerto Rico’s economic development,” Pierluisi stated in the Executive Order.

Governor Pierluisi stressed that the session will address essential areas such as critical infrastructure recovery, municipal concerns, and clarifications to recently passed laws. The administration aims to use this legislative period to reinforce Puerto Rico’s long-term development and economic stability.

The session will review ten key measures, including:

• Tax Relief for Individuals: Allocating $250 million to the Department of Treasury to provide tax relief for 2024, similar to past incentives.
• Urban Housing Incentives: Amending the Incentives Code to establish new programs for housing development in municipal urban centers.
• Housing Finance Restructuring: Revising legal frameworks for the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority as part of its restructuring process after the closure of the Government Development Bank.
• Environmental Preservation in Culebra and Vieques: Ensuring that funds for environmental preservation are used exclusively within their respective municipalities.
• Roosevelt Roads Development: Adopting the 2004 Roosevelt Roads Redevelopment Plan with updates from 2010.

Additional proposals include technical amendments to the Internal Revenue Code for alignment with U.S. tax treaties, agricultural development policies for the Bucarabones Valley in Toa Alta, and restoring historical legislative citations inadvertently removed during recent lawmaking.