Committee hears administration bill to raise minimum public pension to $1,000

The House Committee on Retirement Systems met Sept. 11, 2026 to consider PC 13‑99, an Administration measure that would raise the minimum monthly public pension to $1,000. Representative Lourdes Ramos, president of the committee, opened the session and said the measure is intended to "hacer justicia con los pensionados" after decades of frozen minimums. Arnaldo J. Ortiz Miranda, director executive of the Junta de Retiro, summarized the proposal and its public‑policy rationale.

"Este proyecto propone aumentar a 1000 dólares mensuales la pensión mínima de determinados pensionados bajo la ley 447, de 1951, y de la ley 160, del 2013," Ortiz told the committee and said the change would be "una iniciativa de justicia social." Ortiz supplied preliminary figures for the group targeted by the bill and urged that fiscal and actuarial analyses guide implementation. Members pressed for more data from OPAL, Hacienda and the Office of Management and Budget to determine funding sources and long‑term sustainability.

The session included detailed questioning about which groups would benefit, how many pensioners fall below the $1,000 threshold, and whether existing fiscal constraints created by PROMESA and the certified fiscal plan would permit an increase. No formal votes were taken; the committee closed after requesting additional analyses and the attendance of absent agency officials at a future session.