This is to announce that the Senate will be having a session this Thursday, November 6 @ 10am in the Senate Chamber.  Click here for the draft agenda. 

Also, here are the highlights from the House sessions held last Thursday, October 23 and last Friday, October 31 in Rota:

Senate Budget Bill Rejected — Joint Conference Committee Formed

The House members present unanimously voted to reject the Senate’s version of the Fy 2009 budget, in order to go into a joint conference to come up with a compromise bill.  The House members assigned to the joint conference committee were Reps. Vic Hocog, Edwin Aldan, and Justo Quitugua.  The Senate members assigned to the committee were Sens. Maria Pangelinan, Paul Manglona, and Joseph Mendiola.     

Some members objected to the Senate’s action in simply substituting their version of the budget wholesale, and said they felt insulted by Senator Pangelinan’s comments in the media to the effect of, “the Senate has done its job” — which presumably some members interpreted to mean that the House had not.  I did not share my colleagues’ feelings of insult, and expressed appreciation for the enormous work and careful attention to detail that had gone into the Senate’s budget bill.  I had disagreed with the House leadership’s decision to create “lump sum” budgets and to grant exorbitant reprogramming powers to the Governor.  The Senate’s approach, I thought, was more responsible, and essentially set a new standard for governmental budgeting that I hope present and future legislators will follow. 

Particular provisions in the Senate’s bill that I favored included: 1) the elimination of vacant FTEs; 2) specific appropriations for utilities, from which funds cannot be reprogrammed for any other purpose; 3) correction of mathematical errors discovered in the Governor’s budget proposa; 4) the creation of one central government pool for Retirement Fund employer contributions, that would allow government employees who are eligible to retire to do so regardless of the department or agency for which they work — provided, of course, that funding is actually available in that pool; and 5) the effort to shift the Dept of Labor’s focus to assisting citizens and residents in finding employment in the private sector, beginning with assessments of the citizen and foreign national workforce.    

Some of the concerns about the bill that I cited during the deliberations included:

• The Senate’s proposal to revive austerity Fridays and unpaid holidays, which have proven to be fundamentally unfair and on the whole ineffective, and which serve to breed resentment among employees.  I urged the joint conference committee to consider other cost-cutting measures instead, including cutting perks granted to public officials.  Also, although the Senate’s committee report notes that the Executive Branch has requested a technical assistance grant from the Dept of Interior to conduct an organizational review of the government that will help streamline certain agencies and ultimately cut costs, I said that we should not simply wait for the grant to come in, if it ever does.  At this point, we have no choice: downsizing of the government is inevitable and necessary.  I said that in laying off employees we should give people sufficient notice and consider granting severance packages, including at least three months’ salary, to facilitate their transition out of government and into the private sector.   
• The absence of any clear prohibition in the Senate bill on the use of public funds for the Governor’s lawsuit against federalization, which had been in the House bill; and
• The Senate’s proposal to raise of individual legislators’ operational budgets ($117,000 in the Senate version, up from the House’s proposal of $108,000).

I also asked that the joint conference committee consider in its compromise bill the shortfall in resources that may have occurred by the end of FY 2008, and seek an update on projected revenues for FY 2009, and that public health (the Dept of Public Health, including the hospital and associated clinics); public safety (Dept of Public Safety, Corrections, the Attorney General’s office, etc.), public education (the Public School System and the Northern Marianas College), the Retirement Fund, and CUC are properly prioritized for funding – everything else should be considered secondary and either cut or zero-funded.  I also requested that joint conference committee meetings be open to the public, and that the committee be granted subpoena powers, noting the Senate Committee’s report that numerous agencies had failed to respond to its inquiries.    

At the session on Rota last Friday, Rep. Hocog noted that the joint conference committee hopes to have a compromise bill ready for review by this Friday, November 7. 

Appropriations Bills Passed in the House

1. HB 16-165, SS1 — appropriating $367,000 from the 3rd Senatorial District’s Developers Infrastructure Tax, $86,000 of which would go to parking lots for Kagman High School and Koblerville Elementary; $15,000 of which would go to the rehabilitation of the Kagman II baseball field; $10,000 of which would go to the Veterans Cemetery for improvement and upkeep; $107,000 of which would go to the paving of Tangantangan Road; $104,000 of which would go to the upgrading of water lines in Dandan; and $45,000 of which would go to the paving of the road at Northern Marianas College.  This bill from the Senate proposed a significant increase from the original House proposal (which had appropriated $111,000, and had not included the road paving projects).  

During the discussion I noted that we had earlier in the session rejected the Senate’s version of the budget, that we had still failed to pass a budget for FY 2009, and that we were contemplating painful cuts, including austerity holidays and layoffs.  It seemed incongruous to me to then move on, less than an hour later, to appropriations for mostly pet projects, more than tripling the expenditures that had been originally proposed, and with little time for proper review.  Rep. Hofschneider said that it would be wrong to hold off on worthy projects such as the baseball field rehabilitation, noting that activities such as baseball help keep kids off of drugs — a commonly-cited justification for public funding of baseball that I have heard before in the Legislature, but which does little to explain why we apparently favor baseball above other sports that our children play.  Rep. Hofschneider also pointed out that the Developers Tax funds cannot be used to supplement salaries anyway, at which point I interjected and said that I had never suggested such a thing, but was only urging that we seriously and sensibly prioritize projects funded by the Developers Infrastructure Tax and the poker licensing fees, and that we take the time to review such bills and verify that funds were actually available.  

A visibly-irritated Rep. Apatang then admonished me to “wake up,” and said, among other things, that all of the projects proposed were important to our constituents, that some politicians once elected forget the promises they made and only sit and wait at pavilions waiting for people to show up rather than going to the people directly, and that I should not go on Harry Blalock’s Tuesday radio show just to say that I am “the only legislator working” on the hill.  Although this was hardly the first time that Rep. Apatang had lost his temper on the floor, even I was startled by this latest outburst, and the Speaker finally interrupted and called on Rep. Ray Palacios.  Rep. Palacios remarked that each legislator has projects that are important to him or her, and urged me to offer my own projects for funding for the members to consider.  The Speaker then ended the discussion and called for the roll.  I was the only one to vote no to this bill.  Reps. Frank Dela Cruz and Rosemond Santos were absent.   

2.  HB 16-129, HS1 — to appropriate the Tobacco Control Funds for FY 2009, passed by the House during the Rota session.  The author of the bill, Vice Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero, explained that most of the programs listed in the bill are presently dependent on the Tobacco Control Fund, and that bill was based on funding requests and budget proposals from the Dept of Public Health and the Public School System.  $900,000 would go to the Dept of Public Health, for the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (535,000), the Community Guidance Center’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services ($250,000), mammogram film reading and interpretation ($39,000), the purchase of a Network Attached Storage for the Cancer Registry ($1,000), the Cancer Coalition ($50,000), and the Comprehensive Cancer Control Program ($25,000).  $325,000 would to go the Public School System for the development of a comprehensive school health education program, for Project Familia, and for the Teen Talk program.  In addition, $39,000 was set aside for the youth centers on Saipan, and $75,000 each to Rota and Tinian’s Tobacco and Substance Abuse prevention programs at their respective health centers.

I inquired about the status of another bill that had been passed recently from the House, HB 16-120, introduced by Rep. Justo Quitugua, which proposed to fund PSS’s comprehensive coordinated school health education program out of the Tobacco Control Fund, and which now sits in the Senate committee for review.  The Vice Speaker explained that the Senate was anticipating the passage of HB 16-129 and in that event would not act on HB 16-120.  The Vice Speaker also noted that most of the funding that had been originally proposed for the PSS program in HB 16-120 was preserved in HB 16-129 (originally $350,000; now $325,000) and Rep. Quitugua said this amount was acceptable.  The reporting requirement in HB 16-120 had been somewhat more stringent– however, Rep. Quitugua agreed that the bill in its present form should be passed, and added that he would consider possible amendments to suggest to the Senate that might strengthen the reporting requirement. 

All 14 members present voted yes to the bill.       

3.  HB 16-182 — appropriating $250,000 from the interest earned on Commonwealth Development Authority bonds, for perimeter fencing and other infrastructure improvements at Sinapalo Elementary, and $150,000 for new tractors for the Department of Lands and Natural Resources of Rota, introduced by Rep. Vic Hocog during the Rota session.   The funds had originally been appropriated for Rota’s Route 100 paving project; that project has been held up for several years now due to land compensation and endangered species issues. 

I did not object to funding facility improvements for Sinapalo Elementary (the principal had clearly articulated major problems with the school’s facilities during the presentation earlier that day), though I was less clear about the need for brand-new tractors.  My overarching concern about this bill, however, had to do with the source of funding.  During our lunchtime recess, I spoke to officials from both the Dept of Public Works and the Commonwealth Development Authority.  Officials at both agencies confirmed that there was “probably” still money left from the Rota road project, but that they would need additional time to verify the amounts.  Dept of Public Works officials also noted that there might be less than $400,000 available, as certain contract obligations had not yet been closed out.  I brought this to the attention of the members when we reconvened, but Rep. Hocog said that he had received his own assurances from the same agencies that the funding was in fact there in the amounts being proposed for appropriation.  I suggested that the House not act on the bill immediately, and that we take additional time to verify the funding that was actually available for these projects.  Rep. Hocog objected, however, and said that if there were in fact insufficient funds available, he was confident that the Governor would catch the error and not sign the bill into law.  I remarked that we should not wait for the Governor to do what we should be doing ourselves.  In the end, twelve members voted yes; Rep. Salas and I voted no.   

Action on Other Bills (During the Rota Session)

Note: Fourteen members attended the Rota session, including myself.  Absent were Reps. Dave Apatang, Oscar Babauta, Diego Benavente, Heinz Hofschneider, Joe Reyes, and Stanley Torres. 

1.  HB 16-145, HD1 — to mandate that the government prioritize payments of the employer contributions of government employees who are eligible to retire.  This bill was laid on the table until the next session.  The Floor Leader requested that the Health, Education, and Welfare committee consult with the Retirement Fund first on the bill.  

2.  HB 16-135 — to establish a Commonwealth Autism Commission to develop a state plan to guide services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders.  During the discussion, I requested clarification on some provisions of the bill that seemed to be ambiguous, including the appointing authorities for each of the entities that would be represented on the Commission, and reimbursement for reasonable expenses of the Commission (the bill provides that such reimbursement would be “decided equally” among the House, Senate, and Executive Branch).  The Chair of Health, Education, and Welfare committee, Rep. Ralph Torres, requested that the bill be laid on the table until the next session to give the committee additional time to review the bill, and so that the author of the bill, Rep. Hofschneider, could participate in the deliberations.    

3.  HB 16-108  — to restrict the application of disaster emergencies; disaster shall not include “government financial crisis or financial hardship.”  Introduced by Floor Leader Rep. Joseph Camacho in the midst of a series of gubernatorial disaster emergencies declared on the Commonwealth Ports Authority to avert a technical default on a bond indenture agreement.  I had voted against this bill the first time because I thought that it was ambiguously written; the Senate’s offered a minor amendment to the bill that did little to clarify the language of the bill.  Despite my objections to the litany of questionable emergency declarations and clear abuses of power during this governor’s term, I worried about future, more prudent governors being unduly hampered by the restriction in the event of some unforeseen and serious threat to the public welfare that could be caused by financial hardship.  Moreover, if the driving force behind this bill is the belief, bolstered by mounting evidence, that the governor is abusing his power and ruling by executive order, then the Legislature already has other effective avenues available, not least of which is impeachment, that will address the problems raised by the actions of the present governor, without unduly tying the hands of future governors. 

4.  HB 16-187 – to amend Section 7(a)(2) and repeal and reenact Section 7(c) of the Rota Casino Act, introduced by Rep. Vic Hocog that day.  The bill proposes to authorize the Rota Casino Gaming Commission to utilize funds collected from casino licenses and fees as necessary without the restriction, which currently exists, that requires that casinos that are not ready to open at the time of payment of fees, shall have their fees held in escrow by the Commission or until three years have lapsed from the date the license was issued, whichever occurs first.  Rep. Hocog argued that this requirement was an unnecessary and unjustified burden.  The bill also proposed to amend the Rota Casino Act so that it would comply with the existing tax code, specifically relating to the gross revenue surtax and gambling revenue tax.  Currently, the Rota Casino Act imposes a 10% tax on gross gaming revenues, which the House legal counsel explained is inconsistent with the CNMI’s existing tax law.  If the bill is signed into law, Rota’s tax laws relating to casinos would be the same as Tinian’s.  All 14 members present voted yes on this bill.    

House Resolutions Adopted

1.  HJR 16-15, HS1 — introduced by Rep. Joseph Reyes, this joint resolution requests that U.S. Congress cause to establish a U.S. Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic and a Benefit Office, to serve all CNMI veterans and their dependents.

2.  HJR 16-20 — to establish an ad hoc legislative task force on federalization, the members of which will be appointed by the Speaker and the Senate President.

3.  HR 16-59 — recognizing Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. for winning the prestigious Tour of the Year 2008 award, presented by the JATA Executive Committee

4.  HR 16-60– requesting that the Governor issue a full and detailed report to the Legislature on actions taken and funds used to address the disaster emergencies described in numerous Executive Orders, and to present a plan to the Legislature, including a financial strategy, for addressing the present state of disaster emergency, declared on October 8.  The resolution notes that the situation at CUC appears to be worsening despite nearly three years of the utility being under the direct control of the Governor, that the Governor has failed to present a plan to the Legislature to address the management, operational, and infrastructural challenges facing CUC, that the Governor has also failed to deliver full and detailed reports on the funding that has been diverted to cope with the emergencies, and that the Governor has essentially resorted to rule by executive order, suspending all pertinent statutes and regulations to deal with alleged emergency conditions, with no sign of planning.     

5.  HR 16-61 — recognizing and commending Mr. Kim Prinz, President of the Commonwealth Health Center Volunteer Association for her unitiring dedication and selfless contributions as a CHC volunteer for over 18 years.  

6.  HR 16-62– asking the Commonwealth Development Authority Board to deny granting additional benefits to the existing Qualifying Certificate for Saipan Laulau Development, Inc.  Introduced by Rep. Ray Yumul at the Rota session, the resolution expresses objection to the granting of any additional QC benefits for the Laulau development, as well as objection to the Governor’s personal intervention on behalf of Saipan Laulau Development Inc., in appealing to the CDA Board to reconsider the QC.  The resolution was laid on the table to allow for further review, and Rep. Yumul has since called in the CDA Executive Director and economic analyst for a meeting with legislators to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the QC program generally, and the CDA Board’s on-going efforts to amend its regulations in order to accommodate requests for QC reconsideration.   

Action on Standing Committee Reports (Rota Session)

1.  SCR 16-47 – recommending the filing of HB 16-31 (to promote and allow shooting resort developments); HB 16-52 (to permit a borrower of the Commonwealth Development Authority to assign land compensation due from the government to pay for the balance on the CDA loan); HB 16-95 (liquid fuel tax holiday two days out of every month); and HB 16-94 (to repeal and reenact the mechanics’ lien law).  The members voted to refer this bill back to the Commerce and Tourism committee, and requested that the reports on each bill be separated rather than lumped together.  Rep. Yumul in particular objected to the recommendation to file HB 16-95, which he had introduced, and said that the committee did not adequately justify its recommendation. 

2.  SCR 16-48 – recommending the passage of HB 16-39, repealing and reenacting the mechanics’ lien law, and incorporating certain provisions from a very similar bill, HB 16-94.  This report was adopted.

House Comm. 16-76 – Natural Resources Committee Asks Dept of Public Lands for 10-Yr Financial Report

In a letter dated Oct. 9, 2008, Natural Resources Committee Chair Rep. Ray Tebuteb asked Public Lands Secretary John del Rosario for a complete ten-year financial accounting report, from 1998 to 2008, of all funds received from public lands and the disposition of such funds, including all funds received, the source of such funds, disposition of such funds for each year, amount transferred to the Public Lands Trust pursuant to Article XI of the Constitution, and all amounts held in checking accounts, savings accounts, TCDs, and any other financial account and institution.  The Committee has requested a response from DPL by October 31, 2008. 

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For questions or comments, I can be reached at 664-8931 or 285-3935, or by email at tinasablan@gmail.com .