Jenniffer González Colón signs Laws 117 and 118: emergency health and bids

On June 22, 2026, La Fortaleza publishes a release in which Governor Jenniffer González Colón signs two laws. Law 117-2026, formerly Senate Bill 318, is authored by Juan Oscar Morales Rodríguez and coauthored by Rafael Santos Ortiz. It amends Article 5 of Law 81 of March 14, 1912, the Departamento de Salud Law, to empower the Health secretary to issue provisional licenses to professionals and physicians when a public-health emergency declared by the President of the United States, the governor, or the secretary himself exists. Professionals with an active license from any United States jurisdiction or its territories, and those who have passed the exams and await the formal license, may practice provisionally. Examining boards may revoke the provisional.

On the same page, Law 118-2026, formerly Senate Bill 372, authored by Carmelo Ríos, amends the Administración de Servicios Generales Law for the Centralization of Purchases. It defines "participating bidder" as one who met requirements and submitted an offer on time. Rejection for lateness is a final decision for that bidder and opens the challenge period. Any amendment to an award notice must be notified the same as the original award.

Two laws, one URL. Two notes are not written. The same June 22, Metro covered the House budget vote and the Senate, on another page, would confirm Carlos J. Ríos Pierluisi at DDEC. Those are other acts. Law 118 is not the OATRH compensation regulation Microjuris dated June 28, nor the June 3 veto of the artificial-intelligence Institute.

The release does not figure how many provisional licenses will be issued nor how many bids will be shortened. What remain are the law numbers, the bills, and the two rules: expand professionals in a health emergency, and tighten who counts as a bidder. The La Fortaleza URL is at the foot. This is not original reporting.

Source: La Fortaleza. https://www.fortaleza.pr.gov/prensa/gobernadora-firma-leyes-para-fortalecer-los-procesos-de-subastas-y-fortalecer-la-respuesta-de-salud-publica-durante-emergencias-en-la-isla