[1] Every bill must be passed by both the Senate and the House and then signed by the Governor of Puerto Rico in order to become law.

[3] The constitution also establishes that all secretaries appointed by the governor to the different executive departments, as well as all judges and the Comptroller, require the advice and consent of the Senate.

[b] The Senate, along with its members and staff, are housed in the eastern half of the Capitol of Puerto Rico.

Signed on March 2, 1917, the act made Puerto Ricans into U.S. citizens and empowered them to have a popularly elected Senate.

[11] This came to amend and improve the Foraker Act, signed in 1900, which granted limited administrative and executive powers to Puerto Ricans.

From 1900 to 1917, Puerto Ricans made several attempts to convince the United States into amending the Foraker Act, so they could elect their own Senate.

Also, José Muñoz Rivera and Manuel Palacios Salazar were selected as Secretary and Sergeant at Arms respectively.

The Constitution also establishes that all Secretaries appointed by the Governor to the different executive departments, as well as all judges, require the advice and consent of the Senate.

Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico states that no person can be a member of the Senate unless the candidate:[13] Elections to the Senate are held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, along with the elections for governor, resident commissioner, the House, the mayors, and the municipal assemblies.

Tony Fas Alzamora is the most senior and longest-serving senator, having served for nine consecutive terms since 1981 for a total of 44 years.

Only American citizens (including Puerto Ricans) that meet all the following requirements may vote for senators: Citizens cast their votes in colleges (Spanish: colegios) which are simply usually the nearest public school to where the voter declared as residence.

In both of these extraordinary cases, officials from the Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections will provide aid so that the citizens can cast their vote—either by using verbal or non-verbal communication—with members from the different political parties required to observe the process in order to ensure accuracy, fairness, transparency, order, and legitimacy.

[citation needed] All senators qualify for the same retirement and health benefits as of all other employees of the government of Puerto Rico.

[15] Rather than providing these resources and services directly, senators are instead assigned a budget from which they retrieve funds to pay for these.

The president pro tempore, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party.

The post was created by Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico which establishes that, "The Senate shall elect a President [...] from among [its] members."

The current president is Thomas Rivera Schatz, senator at-large from the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico.

The current president pro tempore is Marially González Huertas, senator for District V Ponce from the Popular Democratic Party.