The Chief of Staff of Puerto Rico ( es, Secretario de la Gobernación de Puerto Rico) is the highest-ranking officer in the

executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico The executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico is responsible for executing the laws of Puerto Rico, as well as causing them to be executed. Article IV of the Constitution of Puerto Rico vests the executive power on the Governor—w ...

after the governor and the secretary of state. The Chief of Staff leads the Secretariat of Governance and is charged with managing and overseeing almost all executive agencies while assisting and advising the governor.

Duties and responsibilities

The duties of the chief of staff vary greatly from one administration to another, and in fact, there is no legal requirement that the governor even fill or create the position. Nevertheless, one of the first acts undertaken by a new governor once he is sworn in, is to issue an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

proclaiming a new chief of staff. This order also establishes the chief of staff's duties and responsibilities as the governor sees fit. This proclamation is done by virtue of the

executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems b ...

s vested upon the governor by Article IV of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and Law No. 104 of 1956, which include the faculty to appoint officers and to delegate functions. The duties and responsibilities are both managerial and advisory and typically include the following: * Manage and supervise the

executive departments of the government of Puerto Rico The executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico is responsible for executing the laws of Puerto Rico, as well as causing them to be executed. Article IV of the Constitution of Puerto Rico vests the executive power on the Governor—w ...

* Manage the flow of information between the Governor and the executive departments * Advise the Governor on various issues

Agencies overseen

Both the

Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is the controlling government document of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government a ...

and

Puerto Rican law The legal system of Puerto Rico is a mix of the civil law and the common law systems. Language Puerto Rico is the only current U.S. jurisdiction whose legal system operates primarily in a language other than American English: namely, Spanish. Be ...

usually ascribe all executive offices to either the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

or the Office of the Governor. The Governor then issues an

proclaiming the delegation of the management and oversight of such executive offices onto the chief of staff. This proclamation is done in virtue of the

s vested upon the Governor b
Law No. 104 of 1956
which include the faculty to delegate functions. The agencies overseen by the Chief of Staff include all the

and almost all executive offices created either through an executive order or by law. The

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

and the

Planning Board An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

are the only executives offices not ascribed to the Secretariat—both report directly to the

. In view of the fact that the Department of State is led by the Secretary of State, who is of a higher constitutional hierarchy than the Chief of Staff as well as Acting Governor on numerous occasions, as a matter of courtesy Chiefs of Staffs usually do not exercise oversight regarding that Department as they exert over others. The agencies overseen by the Chief of Staff include the following: * Commission on Cooperative Development * Commission on Safety and Public Protection * Department of Agriculture * Department of Consumer Affairs * Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation * Department of Economic Development and Commerce *

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

* Department of Family Affairs *

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

Department of Housing The Department of Housing was an Australian government department with responsibility for housing, including the administration of housing schemes and grants that existed between December 1963 and November 1973. Structure The Departm ...

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

* Department of Labor and Human Resources * Department of Natural and Environmental Resources * Department of Public Safety * Department of Sports and Recreation * Department of Transportation and Public Works * Department of Treasury * Economic Development Bank * Federal Affairs Administration * Financing of Housing Authority * Financing of Industrial, Touristic, Educative, Medical, and Environmental Control Facilities Authority (AFICA) *

Financing of Puerto Rico Infrastructure Authority The Authority for the Financing of the Infrastructure of Puerto Rico es, Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Infraestructura de Puerto Rico (AFI)— is a government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico that grants administrative and financi ...

* Government Development Bank * Municipal Financing Agency * Public Financing Corporation * Public-Private Partnerships Authority * Urgent Interest Fund Corporation (COFINA)

Chiefs of Staff

References

{{Cabinet of Puerto Rico Cabinet-level officers of the Cabinet of Puerto Rico Secretariat of Governance of Puerto Rico