House committee approves bill to add controlled-substances inspectors into law-enforcement decision-making; one member objects

Luis R Ortiz Lugo, president of the Commission of Public Safety, Science and Technology of the House of Representatives, presided over a public final-consideration session on May 22, 2024 and announced that House Bill 2121 was before the committee for final action.

The measure, described on the record as intended "to include inspectors of the Office of Controlled Substances of the Department of Health in decisions of agents of order public" (per the transcript), seeks to amend the language of Article 1.02 of Law number 1682019 as referenced in the session. Juan J Zamora Santos, director executive of the commission, confirmed the full text of the measure was circulated to members and read the measures as required for the public record.

The committee moved to a final in-block vote after confirming quorum and that no additional amendments had been filed. During the roll call, several members verbally recorded votes in favor. Representative Mariana Galán Morinelli stated she was voting against the House measure and against the related Senate measure "porque no hubo vistas públicas" ("because there were no public hearings"). The director later announced the tally for House Bill 2121 as recorded in the transcript: seven votes in favor, one against and one entry in the transcript rendered as "uno obtenido" (the phrase is ambiguous in the record and is noted below in clarifying details).

After the vote, Chair Ortiz Lugo asked the director to prepare a certification of the public final-consideration session and to prepare the final texts of the measures as approved for submission with the committee's positive report to the House Secretary. The director confirmed the committee would prepare those materials.

The committee adjourned at approximately 1:35 p.m. with the action reported on the record. The transcript contains the vote counts noted above; the committee's written certification and the official journal will reflect the formal record submitted to the Secretary.