House – No. 1130 of 2013, (1130) was drafted to amend Act No. 170 of August 12, 1988, as amended, commonly known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, or “LPAU”, for its Spanish acronym. On April 4, 2016, the Legislative Assembly approved HB 1130 and remitted the proposed legislation to Puerto Rico Governor, Alejandro García Padilla, for his signature. However, on May 3, 2016, Gov. García Padilla issued a written statement in which he expressly vetoed HB 1130, listing the following reasons: 1) The measure unjustifiably limits the ability of agencies to execute public policy, 2) it contains provisions that might undermine the right to due process of law, 3) it reduces the usefulness of emergency regulations, 4) it does not take into account the recent amendments to LPAU, 5) it provides for a person to request from an agency a binding interpretation, which is equivalent to an adjudication  without an opportunity for administrative review, 6) it restricts the process of challenging regulations that fail to comply with the procedural provisions of LPAU, 7) it limits the power of the courts to review the conclusions based on law, and finally 8) it adds circumstances in which inspections without warrant may be performed without a firm constitutional basis. Accordingly, Gov. García Padilla expressed that he would be remitting to the authors of the Bill a new draft that meets all of his worries.

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