2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWO - Legislature (§§ 1 — 1015) › Chapter 7 - Committees and Commissions (§§ 111-114 — 140u) › § 140r - Public Servant of the Year Award

(a) The “Annual Award of the Legislature to the Public Servant Distinguished for the Protection and Welfare of Disabled Persons in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,” henceforth the “Award”, is hereby created.
(b) A panel of nine (9) judges is hereby constituted to include the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, who shall co-chair said panel, the President of the Social Welfare and Special Communities Committee of the Senate of Puerto Rico, the President of the Social Welfare Committee of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, the floor leaders of the parliamentary minorities in both committees and the Advocate for the Disabled.
Should the House of Representatives or the Senate of Puerto Rico, or both Bodies, lack a Social Welfare and Special Communities Committee, the member of the panel shall be the President of that Committee of each Body with jurisdiction over the legislation related to the welfare of the disabled member of the panel shall be the President of that Committee of each Body with jurisdiction over the legislation related to the welfare of the disabled. The aforementioned panel shall have the power to annually select the public servant who has most highly distinguished him/herself in matters concerning the welfare of the disabled. For this, provisions shall be established through regulations for the internal operations of the panel, which must include, among others, the procedure for submitting nominations of the candidates to the Award and the closing date or term for submitting them.
(c) The panel shall receive nominations and recommendations concerning the candidates that are worthy of receiving this distinction, be it through the initiative of either the public or the private sector.
(d) The person nominated must be an employee or official in active services in the Legislative, Judicial or Executive Branches of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including its municipal governments, public corporations and instrumentalities. Said person shall also meet the following requirements:
(1) Having made an extraordinary contribution, through his/her work, scientific research or community services, for the protection, care, attention and welfare of persons with disabilities.
(2) Having worked as a public servant during a minimum period of five (5) years prior to the closing date for nominations as fixed by the panel, specifically in the protection and weilwe of the disabled in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(e) The Award shall consist of an economic bonus for the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) and a document of recognition signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Said Award shall be presented during a ceremony to be held in the premises of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, on the date in which the “International Day of the Persons with Disabilities” is observed during the month of December of every year.
(f) Both Legislative Bodies, shall in equal parts, set aside from their respective annual general expenses budgets the funds required for the implementation of this section.
(g) The award received by the employee or official shall be in addition to his/her regular compensation and any other bonus and fringe benefit to which he/she is entitled. Said award shall not be deemed to be a part of these nor be subject to the payment of income tax.
History —Sept. 15, 2004, No. 309, §§ 1—7.