1) The amended agenda for today’s Senate session at 10am in the Senate chamber; and
2) The schedule of Senate calendared sessions.
 
Also, the Ways and Means Committee will be leading budget hearings all day tomorrow, beginning at 8am in the House Chamber, and likely to go all day.  A final schedule is not available yet.  For more information, Ways and Means Chair Ray Yumul’s office can be reached at 664-8841.

CLICK HERE for review the agenda for the Senate session scheduled for Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 10am in the Senate Chamber.

Just some updates from the two legislative meetings held today:

SAIPAN AND NORTHERN ISLANDS DELEGATION

The officers who were elected this morning at the organizational session for the Saipan and Northern Islands Local Delegation are:

• Ramon Tebuteb, Chair
• Frank Dela Cruz, Vice-Chair
• Justo Quitugua, Floor Leader

CNMI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

In addition to the items on the amended agenda that was sent out this morning (attached) for the House session this afternoon, the following bills, resolutions, and communications were submitted on the floor:

House Bills

• H.B. No. 16-6: “The Parking Meter Act of 2008,” to ensure that the Department of Public Works has statutory authority to assess fees associated with parking. (Rep. Ramon Tebuteb)
• H.B. No. 16-7: To include the electrical system upgrade for the Tinian Junior and Senior High School under the funding appropriated under Public Law 12-69; and for other purposes. (Rep. Edwin Aldan)
• HB 16-8: To amend 9 CMC Section 5657 regarding accessible parking for persons with disabilities, and for other purposes.  (Rep. Stanley Torres)

House Resolutions

• H.R. 16-3: To acknowledge and commend Guam Radio Station KUAM, ISLA 63 (630 AM) and the Calvo Brothers and Family for actively promoting the advancement of the Chamorro language and culture through their local music and programming, and to kindly request to include the Carolinian language and culture through their music and programming; and most importantly to humbly request to increase the ISLA 63 power transmission to penetrate and to reach the entire CNMI, as far north to the islands of Pagan and Asuncion.  (Rep. Stanley Torres)
• H.R. 16-4: To support the Honorable Governor Benigno R. Fitial’s commitment to dedicating public lands in Koblerville for the development of soccer fields.  (Rep. Ramon Tebuteb)

House Joint Resolutions

• H.J.R. 16-1: To approve two additional full-time employees (FTE’s) for the House of Representatives to comply with the CNMI Supreme Court’s decision in In Re Pangelinan, 2007 MP 14, which increased the membership of the House of Representatives from eighteen to twenty members. (Rep. Heinz Hofschneider)

House Concurrent Resolution

• H.C.R. 16-1: To approve revenues and resources of the CNMI, as identified pursuant to Article III, Section 9(a) of the Constitution, as amended, and 1 CMC Division 7, for Fiscal Year 2008.  Total local revenue and resources available for appropriation in FY 2008, per the Governor’s FY 2008 Resources Transmittal letter dated Sept. 12, 2007, amount to $160,100,000.

House Communications

• HSE Comm. 16-(Unnumbered): From Ways and Means Chair Ray Yumul to Acting Governor Villagomez, requesting clarification of the FY 2008 Budget resources available for appropriation, and following up on a discrepancy of nearly $9 million between two separate transmittals on budget resources from the Governor’s Office.  The first transmittal was dated September 10, 2007, and identified budget resources of $168, 771,000.  The second transmittal, dated September 12, identified budget resources of $160,100,000. 

Communications from the Washington Representative

• Wash. Rep. Comm. 16-1: From Resident Representative Pete A. Tenorio to the Speaker, requesting that the new House budget legislation retain a proposed funding level of $953,857, and that the Office of the Resident Representative be excluded from the list of offices subject to the Governor’s reprogramming authority.

All resolutions were approved today.  I voted yes to all resolutions but one (H.R. 16-3, the KUAM radio station resolution; the only “nay” vote).  Bills introduced today were referred to committees.  Committees are required under House rules to submit to the Speaker written reports on matters referred to them within 90 days of receipt. 
 
The House agenda was amended at least twice since the meeting was announced last Friday, January 18: once this morning, and again on the floor.   
 
Thanks very much.  Please feel free to contact me at this email address or at 664-8931 or 483-3935 for comments or questions. 

CLICK HERE for the AMENDED (on the floor) Orders of Business for this House Session

One basic measure to ensure transparency in government is to provide sufficient public notice for public meetings.   Sufficient notice allows stakeholders to properly prepare for meetings they may wish, or need, to attend, and encourages careful deliberation of policies that will affect the community before decisions are made.  Except under emergency circumstances, the Open Government Act (PL 8-41) requires 72 hours public notice for meetings.      
 
Although the Open Government Act (PL 8-41) does not currently apply to the Legislature, I believe that it should.  I am committed to issuing public notices and agendas for legislative sessions as soon as that information is available to me, until the Open Government Act is applied to the Legislature and public notices for meetings are issued as a matter of course.  At a minimum, I will distribute these notices via email and online at the Commonwealth Dialogues, www.tinasablan.com/forum . 
 
I have been pleased to note that there are many other legislators who are also interested in improving transparency in the Legislature.  Almost all of the current legislators in both the Senate and the House signed the petition to fully apply the Open Government Act to the Legislature last summer.  More recently, there have been discussions to incorporate requirements for public notice in the official House rules, and to overhaul the official Legislature website to make it more user-friendly and to ensure that it is updated regularly.  
 
I continue to be committed to working with my colleagues to introduce legislation that would fully apply the Open Government Act to the legislature, and welcome additional signatures to the Open Government Act petitions that were circulated over the summer.  (Although we were unable to collect enough signatures in time for the 2007 ballot, we can still collect signatures for 2009; we are just a couple hundred signatures short).  
 
This afternoon, I received Orders of Business for two sessions to be held on Tuesday, January 22 at the Legislature:
Saipan and Northern Islands Delegation, 9am (Organizational Session) CNMI House of Representatives, 2pm.

***AMENDED*** Click Here for the House of Representatives Orders of Business for January 22, 2008 @2pm

Click Here for the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation Orders of Business for January 22, 2008 @9am

Please feel free to contact me at 483-3935 or tinasablan@gmail.com for any questions or comments, or to sign the Open Government Act petition.
 
Thanks very much, and have a safe and peaceful Martin Luther King Day weekend.