Benefits Council
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What is the Benefits Council?
The Benefits Council is a nonprofit corporation created by the Guidelines to ensure that the Government of Puerto Rico complies with the requirements regarding funding and withdrawal from the Pension Reserve Fund (The Pension Reserve) established to help meet pension payments. It has nine (9) members, of which (6) are elected (five 5 are retirees, and one 1 is an active employee) for a 4-year term. Of the other three members: one is appointed by the Association of Federal State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)/Servidores Públicos Unidos (SPU), one by the Governor of Puerto Rico, and one by the Fiscal Oversight Board (FOMB). When the FOMB ceases to exist, the Governor will appoint two (2) members.
The Benefits Council will exist until sixty (60) calendar days after the date on which all funds in the Reserve have been withdrawn, or when all pension benefits have been paid to the retirees who benefits from the Reserve, whichever occurs first. Therefore, the Benefits Council is expected to exist for several decades.
What functions does the Benefits Council serve?
- Monitor and ensure that the Government of Puerto Rico meets the requirements established in the Guidelines concerning deposits and the conditions for withdrawing funds from THE PENSION RESERVE to pay for pensions.
- Receive regular reports from the Investment Board.
- Appoint two of the five members of the Investment Board every six years in accordance with the requirements established by the Guidelines. When the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) ceases to exist, the Benefits Council will then name three of the five members.
- It has the faculty to demand enforcement of the Guidelines at U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
Who is eligible to be a member of the Benefits Council?
All members of the Benefits Council must be participants in the RESERVE and residents of Puerto Rico, excepts for those appointed by the Governor, the Fiscal Oversight Board, and AFSCME/SPU. The beneficiaries of retirees who participate in the RESERVE, and the Executive Director of the Retirement System under Act 106-2017, are not eligible.
In addition, anyone who is elected to the Benefits Council must meet the following requirements established in the guidelines:
- Section 2.1 B
Eligibility:Every member of the Benefits Council-other than those appointed by the Governor, the Fiscal Oversight Board, and AFSCME-must be a participant in the Pension Reserve Trust, as described above, and individuals who are only beneficiaries of such participants may not be members of the Benefits Council. Benefits Council members, other than those appointed by the Fiscal Oversight Board and AFSCME, must be residents of Puerto Rico. The Executive Director of the Retirement Board under Act 106 may not be a member of the Benefits Council. In addition, any person seeking to be elected to the Benefits Council must meet the requirements set forth in Section 2.3(C) below.
- Section 2.3 C
“Members of the Pension Benefits Council may be a candidate for re-election; provided, however, that members who have served two consecutive terms (with service during the Transitional Period not qualifying as a term for purposes of this provision) may not be a candidate in the election immediately following their second term; provided further, however, that such member may be a candidate in any subsequent election (subject to a new two-consecutive-term limitation).”
Meet the members of the Pensión Benefits Council
Elected officers:
- Mr. Pablo Crespo Claudio, Employees Retirement System
- Mrs. Sonia M. Palacios de Miranda, Employees Retirement System
- Mr. Félix Figueroa Correa, Teachers Retirement System (TRS)
- Mrs. Ana M. Serrano Reyes, Teachers Retirement System (TRS)
- Carlos Cabán García, Judiciary Retirement System (JRS)
- Mr. Carlos Manuel Román Espada, Active employee
AFSCME/Servidores públicos Unidos Appointees:
- Mrs. Jessica Martínez Santos, member of AFSCME/SPU
Appointee of the Governor of Puerto Rico
- Francisco Domenech Fernández, Esq., Secretary of the Governor and Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (AAFAF, for its Spanish acronym), represented by Pedro De Jesús Román, Senior Executive Advisor, AAFAF.
Financial Oversight Board Appointee
- Jason Fichtner, Executive Director, Retirement Income Institute.
Work Committees
Pension Benefits Council as custodian of the information on the COR website — The Official Committee of Retirees of Government Employees (COR) was an entity created to represent certain Government pensioners in the Government of Puerto Rico’s debt adjustment process under Title III of the PROMESA Act. The COR operated from 2017 until November 2023, when it ceased to exist. During that period, the COR maintained a website with information relevant to retirees about Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy case. The information on the COR website is under the custody of the Pension Benefits Council.