Interim governor signs laws on seniors, hospitals, PRSO

Interim Gov. Rosachely Rivera Santana

By The Star Staff

Interim Gov. Rosachely Rivera Santana signed three new laws on Thursday that legally define the elderly population, extend tax exemptions to hospitals, and create a new public corporation to manage the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra.

Law 75-2025 amends the Penal Code to define an elderly person as anyone 60 years of age or older, with the goal of clarifying the legal language and avoiding ambiguities in the application of criminal aggravating circumstances.

“The absence of a definition that clearly sets forth the age at which a person is considered an elderly person within our Code may cause ambiguity or lack of uniformity when assigning aggravating circumstances,” the text of the law states.

Law 76-2025 renews for 10 years the benefits of the Hospital Tax Exemption Law, which was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024, and is part of the government’s efforts to strengthen the island’s healthcare system.

The benefits contemplated in the law include tax credits on payroll expenses, exemptions on excise taxes, patents, and municipal contributions, and relief on taxes on petroleum derivatives used by hospitals.

Administration Law 77-2025, meanwhile, creates the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra Corp., consolidating functions of three previous entities to allow for the operational and administrative sustainability of the cultural institution.

The new corporation seeks to guarantee the continuity of musical and performing arts activities amid the fiscal restrictions imposed by the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, commonly known as PROMESA, and reduce its dependence on annual budget allocations.