Jose Fernando Aponte Hernández (born January 19, 1958) is an accountant and former

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. He was born in San Juan and obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Accounting from the

University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1980.

Personal life

Aponte is married to Aida I. Rodríguez Roig, and has two sons and one daughter. He currently resides in San Lorenzo. He was the New Progressive Party (PNP) General Secretary during the Rossello administration. One of his older brothers, Néstor, is a state appellate judge, while another, Jorge, was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Rosselló administration.

Career

He served as Secretary-General of the New Progressive Party from 1996 to 1997 (acting) and 1997 to 1999. Aponte was appointed to fill the vacancy left by his brother Néstor Aponte Hernández, as Representative from the 33rd District, after he resigned to become an Appellate Court Judge. Aponte was elected as Representative in the 2000 general elections, and was re-elected as an At-Large Representative in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 general elections. After the New Progressive Party elected 32 members of the 51-seat House of Representatives in the 2004 general elections, Aponte was elected the 28th Speaker of the House on January 10. He is also a member of the

Puerto Rico Republican Party The Republican Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Republicano de Puerto Rico) is the local affiliate of the national United States Republican Party in Puerto Rico. The affiliation started in 1903. The party does not participate in the November ...

. He was defeated in his bid for re-election for Speaker by the new 37-member majority New Progressive Party caucus, which elected then Government Affairs Committee Chairwoman, Jenniffer A. González Colón. Aponte has advocated for statehood supporting a project for statehood in 2010 and asking congress in 2016 to prioritise admitting Puerto Rico as a state . During the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Aponte spoke out against retailers who were operating game machines in their establishments, explaining that if the casinos were not allowed to operate during the pandemic neither should these smaller establishments. In February 2023, he pleaded for the annexation of Puerto Rico before the Congress of the United States of Americ

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aponte Hernandez, Jose 1958 births Living people New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Speakers of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians University of Puerto Rico alumni