The bills from Penal Codeof Hydrocarbons, of the Chamber of Accounts, of the Comptroller General of the Republic and of regulation of the Exercise of Public Functions, as well as the contract of escrow Public of the Thermoelectric Power Plant Catalina Point (Escrow CTPC) appear on the list of Prioritized Legislative Initiatives planned for the new legislative year 2022-2023, which would begin on February 27 of the current year.
More than 20 initiatives make up the list made upalso for the bills that introduce special measures applicable to infrastructure works, public-private partnerships; that of Maritime Commerce, that of the Collection of Taxes to consumers in Internet Services, Minutes and Data, the one that creates the Department of Educational Credit, attached to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and the one that proposes the Comprehensive System to prevent , sanction and eradicate violence against women.
The information was provided to Free Journalby the Administrative Vice Minister of the Presidency, Ovi Saldívar, who is the link between the Executive power and the National Congress.
Other legislative initiatives prioritized over the Organic Law for Supervision and Control of National Congress, which regulates the government transition process, the Checks of the Dominican Republic and the Legal Regime of the Property of Border Lands. In addition, the bills that provide for the installation of Renewable Energy Sources in Public and Private Buildings, on Registration and Maintenance of Public Infrastructures and on Expropriation of Real Estate.
The list is completed by bills that creates the Registry of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) for people Related to Criminal Acts and Crimes; the Against Trafficking in Persons in the Framework of Citizen Security and the Protection of Human Rights. In addition, the bills that add several articles to Law 311-14, on Sworn Declaration, the Regulation of Conflicts of Interest in the Exercise of Public Functions and the one that regulates Cooperatives in the Dominican Republic.
in each chamber
Among the prioritized legislative initiatives, 12 are being studied in the Senate and another nine in the Chamber of Deputies. In the group of initiatives under study in the Upper House is the contract of Escrow Public Catalina Pointwhich generated a series of debates and questions, which motivated President Luis Abinader, through a speech on January 30, to announce that he would ask the Senate to postpone his study.
The head of state reported that the stage of the Economic and Social Council (CES) would be used to hear opinions about the aforementioned contract of escrow public. “As long as he is president of the country, Catalina Point it will not be privatized,” assured the president. He reiterated that the Dominican State “is and will continue to be the sole owner of all assets and rights provided by the government for the creation of the escrow Catalina Point which must be managed in a transparent and efficient manner.
The said contract of escrow was approved in the Chamber of Deputies on January 11 and sent to a committee in the Senate on January 12, so the issue could be taken up again at the beginning of the next ordinary legislature that begins on February 27. In the contract of escrow It is contemplated to transfer irrevocably, for the duration of the same, which is 30 years, the assets and rights of the Thermoelectric Power Plant to the Fiduciaria Reservas.
On the other hand, the Senate is also the object of study of the Permanent Commission of Justice and Human Rights, the bill that creates the General Directorate of Ethics and Transparency (Diget). While a special commission studies in the Chamber of Deputies the bill of the Penal Code. In addition, in the Lower House, two permanent commissions study the bills of Maritime Trade and the one that introduces special measures applicable to infrastructure projects, public-private alliances.
Among the priority bills, about four are studied in bicameral commissions as a way to achieve consensus and speed up their study and approval. Among these initiatives are the draft laws (organic) of the Chamber of Accounts, Trials of Domain Extinction for the Civil Confiscation of Illicit Assets, (organic) of Single Regions and Territorial Planning, Land Use and Human Settlements.
The first projects
Last week both the legal consultant of the Executive powerAntoliano Peralta, as the administrative deputy minister of the Presidency and liaison between the Executive power with the National CongressOvi Saldívar, revealed to Free Journal that there are several bills which will be submitted by the government to the National Congress next February 27. Among these initiatives are the Purchasing and Contracting, Hydrocarbons, Public Trusts and Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction. Others bills they will be submitted later because they are not yet “mature and must be agreed upon” at the CES.
