Here are the highlights from the House sessions held on June 30, 2009 and July 8, 2009:
BILLS INTRODUCED (NOT ON AGENDA)
- HB 16-256 — to authorize the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation to engage financing institutions or government agencies in loan or asset management services for a fee by adding a new section 10603 to Title 4, Division 10, Chapter 6 of the Commonwealth Code. (Rep. Vic Hocog)
- HB 16-257 – to establish a Worker's Compensation Fund by amending 4 CMC Section 9354; to authorize funding by Commownealth agencies for the Worker's Compensation Fund by adding a new 4 CMC Section 9355; and for other purposes. (Rep. Vic Hocog +5)
- HB 16-258 — to register complementary and alternative healthcare practitioners. (Rep. Vic Hocog + 4)
- HB 16-259 — to repeal 1 CMC Section 7207, consistent with the Superior Court's recent finding that the provision interfere's with the Judiciary's power to enforce judgments against the Commonwealth. (Rep. Ray Yumul + 2)
- HB 16-260 — to deposit the Marianas Public Lands Trust Interest transferred to the General Fund revenus into a separate trust account to be distributed to the people of the Commonwealth who are of Northern Marianas Descent (Rep. Vic Hocog)
- HB 16-261 — to authorize the poker license fees collected from Rota to be deposited into a separate account from the General Fund for appropriation by the Rota Legislative Delegation for a period of 5 years to augment the operations of the Rota Gaming Commission (Rep. Vic Hocog)
- HB 16-263 — to rename the Northern Marianas College (NMC) the "Governor Carlos S. Camacho, Northern Marianas College" (Rep. Justo Quitugua)
- House Local Bill 16-40 — to amend 10 CMC Section 3922 regarding the appointment of members to the SHEFA Board (Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz)
SENATE LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE 16-11 RE CNMI GENERAL ELECTIONS FAILS TO PASS HOUSE
This initiative was recalled from the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee and placed on the bill calendar for action during the July 8 session. The Senate initiative is similar to a House initiative, both of which were passed in their respective chambers several months ago, in that both are intended to synchronize the federal general election of the U.S. Delegate with the local CNMI elections in order to save on the costs of having an election every year. The difference between the two initiatives, however, lay in the transition period that would begin with the 2009 election. The Senate proposed to extend all terms by one year, giving the Senators, Governor/Lt. Governor, and Mayors a five-year term, incumbent Senators who are up for mid-term reelection this year an additional year in their term, and House members a three-year term. The House proposed three-year terms for all elected offices, thus shortening by one year the terms of the Senators, Governor/Lt. Governor, and Mayors, and increasing the normal two-year House term by one year.
House supporters of the Senate initiative said that the Senate would never pass the House version of the initiative, and that the goal of realizing cost savings was important enough to justify compromising and simply passing the Senate version. I said that the goal of realizing cost savings was indeed important enough to warrant our good faith effort to place on the ballots an initiative that would be likelier to pass. I had suggested months ago that we convene public hearings to present the community with at least the opportunity to weigh in on the two possible options, and reiterated that recommendation at the session. We could reasonably expect the public to find our efforts to pass an initiative that would lengthen the terms of public officials rather self-serving, especially when there was already an obvious alternative to shorten the terms during the transition and achieve the same goal. Rep. Joe Camacho further expressed concern that the Senate proposal would give three sitting Senators an additional year that they had not earned in the 2007 election.
Rep. Ray Palacios disagreed with the suggestion of a public hearing, and said that few members of the community would be likely to show up at the public hearing. Other members argued that time was of the essence and we had to ensure that we meet the deadline to place initiatives on the ballot. I said that if the issue of whether the next group of legislators and executives should be given longer terms in this next election is important enough to people, they will participate in hearings and submit their comments; if it is not that important, then we should move forward and simply make that policy call, but at least we would have given our constituents a chance to express their views. I further pointed out that we have more than four weeks before the initiative deadline — ample time to hold public hearings and then vote on the initiative.
Rep. Heinz Hofschneider remarked that the proposal to lengthen terms by one year during the transition period would perhaps not be so controversial if public opinion of the Legislature were not so low at this time and if the Legislature were to also act on the initiative he introduced last year to downsize the Legislature and make it part-time.
The motion to end debate was eventually made and seconded. Ten members voted yes to this bill — Joseph Deleon Guerrero, Arnold Palacios, David Apatang, Diego Benavente, Vic Hocog, Edwin Aldan, Heinz Hofschneider, Ray Palacios, Rosemond Santos, and Stanley Torres. Six members voted no — Reps. Ray Tebuteb, Ed Salas, Joe Camacho, Frank Dela Cruz, Ray Yumul, and myself. Four members were absent — Reps. Joe Reyes, Edwin Aldan, Ralph Torres, and Justo Quitugua. After the vote, some of the supporters of the initiative commented that because we had killed the initiative, we were going to have an election every year from now on. Frankly, my vote might have been different if we had cared enough to simply have had public hearings on the proposal.
ACTION DEFERRED ON RUNOFF ELECTION BILL
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Deleon Guerrero, and drafted in collaboration with the Commonwealth Election Commission, House Bill 16-220, HS1, SD1, HD3, SD3 would provide for election procedures governing runoff elections that would be constitutionally required in the event that no candidates for governor and lieutenant governor garner more than half of the votes cast and counted in a general election. A particular point of contention deals with a provision in the bill that would allow registered voters who fail to vote in the general election to participate in the runoff election. Some members, and particularly Reps. Vic Hocog and Rosemond Santos, objected to this provision and argued that registered voters who fail to vote in the general election should be removed from the registry (consistent with current practice) and precluded from voting in the runoff election.
Other members, and particularly Rep. Deleon Guerrero, argued that the short time frame allowed under the constitution for a runoff election (14 days from the date that the results of the general election are certified) could potentially deprive individuals of their right to vote — i.e., if they are removed from the voter registry for failing to vote in the general election, but are not given a reasonable amount of time to re-register (which would necessarily be less than 14 days) so they could participate in the runoff election. Election Director Mr. Robert Guerrero and legal counsel Megan Hasselshearer, who testified during this session, also held this view. But some members maintained that voters who fail to vote in the general election should simply not be allowed to vote at all in the runoff. After all, a runoff election would only be triggered by the results of the general election; why should individuals who failed to vote in the general election be allowed to participate in the runoff?
In the end, the members agreed to defer action on this bill until the next session to allow for additional time to consider the Senate amendments.
SENATE BILL 16-51, SD1 RE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONFIRMATIONS, PASSES THE HOUSE
Introduced by Sen. Pete Reyes, this bill proposes to clarify that an individual shall neither occupy nor serve in the capacity of Attorney General, Acting Attorney General, or Interim Attorney General for more than 30 days without a nomination to the Senate, nor more than 90 days upon nomination without a confirmation from the Senate. The bill would disqualify individuals who have assumed the title of AG, Acting AG, or Interim AG without a timely nomination from serving in any of those capacities for two years, would automatically terminate the appointments of individuals who have not been timely confirmed, and would render null and void contracts, purchase orders, or time sheets certified by individuals who have acted in these positions in violation of the Act, though the duties and functions of the office to prosecute criminal cases and represent the CNMI shall not be impaired. The bill would also give the Senate President legal standing as a party in interest to seek a writ of mandamus in the event that a qualified candidate is not nominated within the required time periods.
The bill passed with 13 members voting yes, myself included; Rep. Oscar Babauta and Vic Hocog voting no; and Rep. Stanley Torres abstaining. Reps. Justo Quitugua, Ralph Torres, Joe Reyes, and Edwin Aldan were absent.
HOUSE BILL 16-204, AMENDING PL 16-17 PASSES THE HOUSE
Introduced by Rep. Heinz Hofschneider, this bill proposes to amend Public Law 16-17, the CUC Private Sector Partnership Act of 2008, to clarify requirements for contracts with independent power producer, to clarify the requirement that CUC procure the services of a "United States Certified Contractor," and to remove the requirement that a successful bidder for the full privatization of CUC's electric power generation pay not less than $250million in cash and equivalent infrastructure improvements. The bill was developed in collaboration and consultation with CUC. It passed with all 16 members present voting yes, myself included; Reps. Justo Quitugua, Ralph Torres, Joe Reyes, and Edwin Aldan were absent.
HOUSE BILL 16-224 RE SADOG TASI PARK PASSES THE HOUSE
Introduced by Rep. Ray Tebuteb, this bill proposes to vest the Department of Lands and Natural Resources with the management and disposition of a certain tract of public land (TR 21077-2) in Sadog Tasi for the development of a public park to be managed by the Division of Parks and Recreation. The Committee on Natural Resources recommended passage. All 16 members present voted yes to this bill, myself included; 4 members were absent — Reps. Justo Quitugua, Ralph Torres, Joe Reyes, and Edwin Aldan.
HOUSE BILL 16-262 PASSES HOUSE & SENATE
Introduced by Rep. Ray Yumul, this bill proposed to appropriate a total of $295,000 using the excess Marianas Public Lands Trust interest payments for FY 2009 – $122,630.13 of which would be used to pay runoff claims incurred by members of the CNMI government health insurance program to Aetna, for Aetna, and $172,369.87 of which would go to the Election Commission to pay for the costs of the 2009 general election and possibly the runoff election.
The bill was drafted during lunch hour and introduced for the first time at approximately 4:15pm that day, and Rep. Yumul asked if the rules could be suspended and the bill placed on the calendar for action because the Aetna issue was an urgent one, and Aetna was threatening to suspend coverage if the CNMI did not pay. I objected and asked if we could first verify the figures provided, and also verify that the administration had not already paid Aetna, as I was aware that Aetna had notified the CNMI in June that it had until June 26 to make the payment and it was already June 30. If this were such an "urgent" issue, I said, we would not be waiting until four days after that deadline to draft and introduce a bill for the first time. Rep. Yumul said he was not sure if Aetna had yet been paid, and after placing a call to the Retirement Fund, said that it might have been, but we should still pass the appropriation just in case.
I also questioned the $172K appropriation to the Election Commission. I had been aware that recent amendments to the CNMI's election laws would most likely result in additional costs, but it wasn't clear yet how much exactly. The day before the bill was introduced, the Election Commission had provided a $295K budget request to the Ways and Means Committee Chair. This request was distributed to the members only minutes after the bill was introduced, so there was very little time to scrutinize the request and determine whether or not the $172K appropriation was sufficient or perhaps excessive.
Nevertheless, most members believed both appropriations were enough of an emergency to justify our immediate action that day, and the debate was ended. Twelve House members voted yes to this bill; Reps. Ed Salas, Arnold Palacios, and I voted no. Five members were absent during the vote: Reps. Rosemond Santos, Ray Yumul, Ralph Torres, Heinz Hofschneider, and Oscar Babauta.
The Senate passed this bill unanimously and without amendment the following day. The bill now heads to the Governor for approval.
HOUSE BILL 16-68, SD1 RE RETIREMENT FUND PLACED ON CALENDAR
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Camacho, this bill proposes to remove the six-month gap in healthcare coverage that currently exists in law and provide annuitants with an option to continue their government health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as that government coverage, if any, offered each fiscal year to government employees, and further provides that annuitants who decline this option or who exercise this option at the date of retirement and subsequently cancel coverage shall not be entitled to reapply, though they may enroll in the same plan offered to other annuitants and shall be responsible for payment of all premiums with no government or fund subsidy for every year they are enrolled in the plan.
The Senate amendment passed at the July 1 session proposes to amend 1 CMC Section 8392, as amended by PL 15-70, to allow all retirees who are re-employed by the Commonwealth government to have their retirement benefits recomputed based on their re-employment services, except as provided in subsection (d) of 1 CMC 8392. Currently, the CNMI constitution prohibits double-dipping except as provided by law for a period not to exceed two years; the constitution further prohibits the recomputation of benefits based on any reemployment during which retirement benefits are drawn, and allows the Legislature to prohibit recomputation of benefits based on reemployment after retirement in any event and under any circumstances. Accordingly, 1 CMC Section 8392, as amended by PL 15-70, exempts teachers, nurses, doctors, and medical professionals from the restriction on doubledipping, and prohibits the recomputation of benefits in any event and under any circumstances based on reemployment. What, I asked, was the purpose of the Senate amendment permitting recomputation of benefits for reemployed retirees "except as provided in subsection (d)" and could we accept the amendment notwithstanding the constitution? Rep. Yumul suggested that the Senate's intent was to allow all other reemployed retirees to have their benefits recomputed, but that only added to the confusion and concern.
I objected to placing the amended bill on the calendar for action without first consulting with the Retirement Fund and examining the potential legal and constitutional problems that the amendment presented. I urged the members to refer the bill to committee, and confer with both the Senate and the Retirement Fund to review the amendment. The members voted instead to place the bill on the calendar for action, but agreed not to act on the bill right away. Rep. Joseph Camacho and I voted against the placement of the amended bill.
ACTION ON PENSION OBLIGATION BOND INITIATIVE DEFERRED
Concerns were raised by Rep. Diego Benavente and Joe Deleon Guerrero about the two purposes named in this initiative — 1) to gradually reduce the number of government employees by two and one half percent each fiscal year until the total government budget allocation for personnel is sixty percent or less of the general revenues of the Commonwealth; and 2) to authorize the issuance of pension obligation bonds in a cumulative amount (excluding refunding bonds) not to exceed the actuarially determined unfunded accrued liability. Rep. Benavente was concerned about the constitutionality of passing an initiative that dealt with more than one issue, though our legal counsel and other members said that the two amendments proposed in the initiative were tied and fell under one article of the constitution. Rep. Deleon Guerrero was more concerned about the wisdom of combining the two amendments in one initiative, and said that it might be less likely to pass as result.
As in previous sessions, I asked why we were so resistant to holding public hearings on the initiative considering how significant an undertaking everyone seemed to agree that it was, and was once again told that the public would be given an opportunity to be educated about the initiative once it passed and to make their own informed decisions at the ballot. I said that the purpose of public hearings would be to solicit comments on how the initiative itself should be framed, and indeed whether or not the question should be placed at all. The members instead preferred to defer action, and Ways and Means Chair Rep. Ray Yumul was instructed to come up with better language for the initiative by Friday and also consider the possibility of splitting the initiative into two.
ACTION ON HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
After several hours of discussion, the House passed a concurrent resolution approving the total estimated revenues and resources for Fiscal Year 2010 at $162,820,000, pursuant to Article III, Section 9(a) of the Constitition and 1 CMC Division 7. The resolution included debt service and recognized certain earmarks for the Tobacco Control Fund, the Solid Waste Revolving Fund and the temporary power contract with Aggreko. An additional earmark for the Retirement Fund, amounting to $1,690,000 (30% from the Alcoholic Beverage Container Tax and the 20% from the Hotel Occupancy Tax, which is currently required to remitted to the Fund by law) was included in an amendment introduced by Rep. Yumul. After these earmarks and debt service obligations were factored in, the total revenue and resources available for appropriation for 2010 amounted to $148,810,000, not including collections from the Dept of Public Lands.
During the discussion, Rep. Heinz Hofschneider asked whether or not the Governor's projections had been verified. Ways and Means Chair Rep. Yumul responded that the administration had maintained that its figures were accurate, but added that Ways and Means inquiries probing the figures had generally gone unanswered, including the committee's request for updated FY 2009 expenditures and collections. Rep. Hofschneider then noted that the administration had recently publicly acknowledged that expenditures for FY 2009 were already exceeding collections and he suggested that the concurrent resolution should incorporate a provision for deficit reduction. Rep. Edward Salas further questioned the Governor's FY 2010 projections, and pointed out obvious discrepancies between the Governor's annualized projected revenue collections for 2009 and estimated revenues for 2010. Rep. Salas said that the Legislature should have the actual expenditures and collections to date for FY 2009 in order to be able to arrive at a projection that would most closely adhere to the CNMI's fiscal realities.
I agreed with both Reps. Hofschneider and Salas and suggested that the concurrent resolution should include provisions for both deficit reduction and adjustments for projected resources pending further information from the Governor. Some members objected said that the Legislature should instead call upon the administration to provide updated information on actual collections and actual expenditures, and adjust the projects accordingly when more data are made available. I then introduced an amendment urging the Governor to submit a report as soon as possible but not more than 30 days after the adoption of the resolution setting forth any amendments or changes, and including actual revenues and expenditures to date for Fiscal Year 2009, any policy changes proposed since the budget was first submitted on April 1, and other significant factors affecting the budget for FY 2010. The amendment was accepted.
The next day, however, the Senate voted to reject the concurrent resolution and moved to form a conference committee. One of their primary concerns centered on the earmark that was added for the Retirement Fund. During the House session on July 8, Ways and Means chair Rep. Ray Yumul informed the members that he had conferred with Senate Fiscal Affairs Chair Senator Frica Pangelinan, and that the Senate was likely to recall their rejection and insert amendments instead for the House to consider.
ACTION ON OTHER RESOLUTIONS
House Commemorative Resolutions 16-72 – 16-90 - recognizing Freddy Salavaria, Keala Peters, Kimberly Hofschneider, Noelani Mcmahon, Tanya Dela Cruz, Yvette Bennett, Yvonne Bennett, Kenlyn Butters, Sung Yul Baik, Donavan-Jose Castro, Edwin Correa, Jr., Jhumil Esposo, Jaclyn Quitugua, Ray San Nicolas, Thomas Castro, Moon Hyo Lee, Monica Pangelinan, Loremel Hocog, Kenneth Palec for their outstanding participation in the Teen Talk Program. Introduced by Rep. Justo Quitugua +1. ADOPTED.
House Commemorative Resolution 16-91 — conveying the sincere condolences and sympathy of the House of Representatives to the bereaved family of the late Choken Ginoza on the occasion of his untimely passing and paying tribute to his contributions to the tourism industry and his fond memory. Introduced by Rep. Heinz Hofschneider. ADOPTED.
House Joint Resolution 16-27 – to authorize the CNMI through the Governor to submit to the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development the Action Plan for the Community Development Block grant Application; the HOME Investment Partnership Grant Application; and the Emergency Shelter Grant Application; to receive the funds requested therein, and to assume all responsibilities imposed by the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Program, and the Emergency Shelter Grant Program. Introduced by Speaker Arnold Palacios. ADOPTED.
Senate Joint Resolution 16-11 – to approve two additional full-time employees for the Community Guidance Center. Ways and Means Chair Rep. Ray Yumul disclosed a letter from the Community Guidance Center that indicated that no funding was available in FY 2009 to support the additional FTEs; however, the CGC Director requested that the two FTEs be authorized in the FY 2010 budget. Referred to the Ways and Means Committee.
House Resolution 16-92 — to honor Mr. Kwang Joong Kim (Tommy Kim) of Asiana Airlines for the many contributions he has made to the Commonwealth through his dedication, commitment, and support of its tourism industry. Introduced by Rep. Joseph Deleon Guerrero + 1. ADOPTED.
House Resolution 16-93 – supporting U.S. House Resolution 934, to convey certain submerged lands to the CNMI granting the same benefits as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, and to preserve the CNMI government's joint management role in the Marianas Trench National Monument. (Rep Oscar Babauta + 3). PLACED ON CALENDAR.
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