Representative Cristian Muriel, presiding over the Commission on Cooperativism, opened a public hearing on Proyecto de la Cámara 774 to consider amending Article 5.04 of Ley 255-2002 to authorize voting by proxy in cooperative assemblies.

COSEC (Corporación Pública para la Supervisión y Seguro de Cooperativas de Puerto Rico) presented first. Mabel Jiménez Miranda, COSEC’s executive president, told the commission that COSEC supports the bill "porque... autorizar el voto por poder en las asambleas de socios, delegados y distritos sujeto a los controles y procedimientos establecidos en el reglamento general de cada cooperativa". She argued that factors such as distance, health, advanced age, work commitments and emergencies have prevented many members from participating in person and that proxy or delegated voting, if properly regulated, would expand access: "El voto por poder debidamente regulado y supervisado no debilita la democracia cooperativa, la amplía y la perfecciona.". COSEC recommended implementation under internal rules approved by each cooperative, prudential standards to verify identification and authorization, and adequate institutional supervision to prevent conflicts of interest and duplicate votes.

Lic. Irma Torres, legal adviser to the Liga de Cooperativas de Puerto Rico, said the Liga recognizes the measure’s potential benefits but warned of risks to cooperative doctrine and member engagement. She referenced Articles 4.02 and 4.03 of Ley 255-2002 to stress the importance of informed participation and said proxy voting ‘‘desliga esta conexión personal del socio’’ and could replicate corporate governance patterns that the cooperative model seeks to avoid. The Liga recommended that authorization to use proxies be potestative — i.e., left to each cooperative to decide — and called for specific supervisory norms by COSEC to ensure transparency and integrity.

During questions, legislators and presenters discussed practicalities. COSEC noted that some cooperatives already use technological voting methods and that cooperatives vary widely in size — "muchas cooperativas tienen más de 30,000 socios... y hay cooperativas que quizás tienen 100". Representative Lilibeth Rosas Vargas proposed an amendment requiring that a proxy be granted to another cooperative member rather than an outside person, so the proxy-holder understands the cooperative’s matters. Panelists also discussed limiting a member to a single proxy to reduce the risk that proxies could be used to advance outside agendas. The chair said the commission would accept those recommendations and work to include them in the bill text ("Sí, yo yo entiendo que podemos acoger la enmienda y añadir la respuesta.", SEG 506–507).

No formal vote was taken during the hearing; the commission closed the session at 10:31 a.m. after thanking the presenters. The record shows COSEC’s formal endorsement conditioned on safeguards and the Liga’s request that cooperatives retain discretion and that COSEC exercise supervisory oversight.

What’s next: The commission indicated it will consider amendments proposed during the hearing — including restricting proxies to fellow members and exploring limits on the number of proxies per member — before any legislative vote.