P.R. Laws tit. 18, § 1590

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 1590. Advisory Committee

The Technological-Occupational Education and Employment Training Advisory Committee attached to the Office of the Governor is hereby created.

The Committee shall act as an advisory body [to] the Governor and the Council, and shall operate in close collaboration with them.

The Committee shall be composed of thirty-two (32) members designated by the Governor, who shall adequately represent the population of Puerto Rico as follows:

(a) Ten (10) of the Committee’s members shall be representatives of the private, business, industry and agricultural sectors and other primary economic sectors. Five (5) of said members shall be representatives of such sectors on the State Council as required by the Carl D. Perkins Act, and the other five (5) shall represent those sectors on the State Council as required by § 122 of the Employment Training Act. One (1) of the members shall serve on both councils pursuant to § 112 of the Carl D. Perkins Act.

(b) Six (6) members of the Committee shall be representatives of the Legislature, Commonwealth departments, agencies or organizations, including public welfare, employment, vocational rehabilitation, education, economic development, health, commerce, agriculture and youth agencies, pursuant to § 122 of the Employment Training Act.

(c) Eight (8) members of the Committee shall be representatives of labor or community organizations interested in occupational education and employment training and their support services, the home and work. Two (2) of said members shall be representatives of labor organizations on the State Council, as required by § 112 of the Carl D. Perkins Act and six (6) of said members shall be representatives of labor or community organizations on the State Council, as required by § 122 of the Employment Training Act.

(d) Two (2) of [the] Committee’s members shall be private citizens and shall be representatives of the public interest on the State Council as required by § 122 of the Employment Training Act.

(e) Six (6) of the Committee’s members shall be representatives of secondary and postsecondary vocational institutions on the State Council as required by § 112 of the Carl D. Perkins Act.

The Governor shall designate the Chairperson of the Committee from among the members who are not in public office and shall ensure that the population with physical disabilities is well represented on said Committee. The members who represent Commonwealth agencies and organizations shall hold office until their successors are appointed and take office. The representatives of the private sector, labor and community organizations, vocational institutions and the private citizens who compose the Committee shall be appointed for a term of five (5) years.

Once the Committee is designated, it may be composed of independent subcommittees which shall carry out the functions of the bodies that the different Commonwealth and federal programs [require be] incorporated into the system. Subcommittees shall be organized, among others, to comply with the requirements for the creation of State Councils of the Carl D. Perkins Federal Act and the Employment Training Act.

The subcommittees shall have advisory and coordinating faculties assigned by the various federal laws that provide for the creation of committees or consulting, advisory, evaluating or coordinating bodies in the areas of job training, vocational education, adult education and vocational rehabilitation and in vocational and social betterment assistance programs. This chapter shall not be construed as to affect the duties and responsibilities that the subcommittees thus created have to comply with the federal laws in any way whatsoever, thus ensuring the independence and autonomy conferred by such laws.

Every plan, order, report or any other document or affirmative action that is required of any subcommittee and that calls for the endorsement, approval or any other action on the part of the Governor shall be referred to him through the Committee which may submit to the Governor the recommendations it deems pertinent, such as, among others; approve, reject, return, revise, amend, rectify, correct, examine, verify, study or corroborate such documents or actions required. A copy of every document or affirmative action that the Committee or any of its subcommittees refers to the Governor for corresponding action, shall be simultaneously remitted to the Council which shall be able to submit to the Governor or the Committee the recommendations that it deems pertinent.

The Council shall remit to the Committee a copy of the Implementation Plan and of the Five-Year Strategic Plan required by this chapter prior to its approval for its comments or remarks. The Council may request the recommendations of the Committee or its subcommittees on any matter under its consideration.

The Governor, by his own initiative or upon recommendation of the Committee, may increase the number of members and the composition of the Committee, maintaining the number and composition of the Carl D. Perkins and the Job Training subcommittees, as required by such federal laws.

The members of the Committee shall receive per diems of seventy-five dollars ($75) for each day they attend its meetings and those of the subcommittees that are organized, or while carrying out the duties charged by the Committee or subcommittees. Those members who are public employees and officials shall be governed by the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury on the matter.

Any member of the Committee who receives a pension from any retirement system subsidized by the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico may receive the per diems provided in this section without affecting their right to said pension or annuity.

History —Dec. 18, 1991, No. 97, § 11.