P.R. Laws tit. 2, § 903

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 903. Public functions and activities

The Legislature may grant legislative donations to entities dedicated totally or substantially to perform public functions or activities, granting priority to those for the preservation of public health, the protection and security of the people, and public education and social welfare programs, and to those that help or contribute to decrease, mitigate, eradicate or solve the most urgent and serious problems of the citizenry in general. Among said public functions or activities are the following:

(a) The direct rendering of some of the services stated below:

(1) Of social welfare, custody or protection of orphaned, abused, or abandoned children or children with behavior problems.

(2) Of health or housing, shelter or food for the elderly, indigent persons, homeless, sick people or patients of limited financial resources or with a terminal disease or health condition.

(3) Of custody and protection of abused or abandoned persons with mental disorders.

(4) Of disease prevention or treatment.

(5) Of education, treatment, rehabilitation, therapy, reeducation or location of persons with deficiencies in their physical or mental development, or of persons addicted to drugs or who are alcoholics.

(6) Of retraining to injured workers and professionals or who have physical or mental limitations or disabilities, so they can be reintegrated to the labor force of the country or develop some productive activity.

(7) Of rescue, succor, and help in case of emergency, accidents or natural disasters.

(8) Of orientation, advice and legal assistance for citizens of limited resources.

(9) Of orientation, rehabilitation and any other of the services listed in this subsection, for veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

(b) Design, develop and carry out employment and educational projects, programs or activities in underdeveloped or socially-deprived areas.

(c) Develop clinics, academies, camps, programs, activities, competitions, tourneys, field days, sports or recreational events or table games.

(d) Offer regular education, technical education and vocational or educational tutoring services to students of limited economic resources with learning disabilities.

(e) Organize, offer or promote activities, courses, seminars, academies, conferences or others of a like or similar nature, to encourage a sense of responsibility, discipline, ethical values, human principles, civic awareness and develop leadership in the citizens, and specially in our youth.

(f) Provide musical education, organize and maintain bands, orchestras and music groups, chamber music groups, vocal and choral groups, dance and theater groups and promote their participation in public activities.

(g) Publish books, treatises, essays, poems, novels, anthologies, pamphlets, articles and any other work of literary, historic, artistic, scientific, economic or social value.

(h) Encourage and develop an appreciation of human values, cultural heritage and critical thinking and foster cultural and artistic expression, and the study and appreciation of history, philosophy, languages, archaeology, jurisprudence, linguistics, social sciences, anthropology, ethics, education, arts and science in general.

(i) Organize and hold festivals, carnivals, processions, parades, fairs, “verbenas” and other town festivities of a folklore nature or related to our traditions and customs or commemorative of historical events.

(j) Reconstruct buildings of historical or great architectural value, or compile, restore and preserve documents and documents and historic, cultural, literary and artistic works.

(k) Encourage and develop activities and projects that contribute to achieve a greater participation of the citizens when attending to and mitigating community problems that affect them, and encourage the organization and creation of citizen groups councils, and other community organizations to collaborate with the government in the execution of its public policy.

(l) Carry out studies, research or develop creative and innovative programs in the fields of education, health, sports, technology, urbanism, transportation, sciences, arts and humanities in general, which lead to improve the quality of Puerto Rican life.

(m) Support programs or services for the sheltering, immunization, veterinary care or protection of animals.

(n) Provide for the development of agriculture and fishing and the conservation of natural resources and the environment.

(o) Improve the government operations, increase the level of productivity of the public employees and officials; encourage the study and investigation of the problems and functions of the different government areas; promote legislation for their attention or solution, or that contribute to the updating of the context, methods or systems of the different operational areas and those of government services.

(p) Carry out any other activities, programs, services, studies or investigations of recognized public interest, whose purpose and objectives are to collaborate in the performance of a function, responsibility or work, plan, project or governmental activity addressed to implement or execute a duly-promulgated and effective public policy.

History —Dec. 29, 1995, No. 258, § 4.