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Austerity bill goes to Fitial
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Posted on Apr 04 2008
The administration-backed austerity bill is now on its way to the governor after the Senate passed it without amendment yesterday.
Five senators voted in favor of the bill restoring the austerity Friday program and suspending holiday pay for the three holidays remaining in the this fiscal year.
Senate President Pete P. Reyes abstained, saying he would not vote in favor of any austerity measure until the long-delayed pozzolan mining project in Pagan is implemented.
Senators Luis Crisostimo, Jude Hofschneider, and Felix Mendiola were absent.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial is expected to sign the bill into law immediately. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives at his request.
Under the bill, the CNMI government will shut down every other Friday from April 18, 2008 through the end of the current fiscal year. The Public School System and Northern Marianas College will remain open on austerity Fridays to prevent disruption of classes. Also exempted are government agencies normally required to open on legal holidays and to maintain a 24-hour schedule.
The bill will allow the government not to pay its employees the legal holiday rate on Memorial Day (March 26), Liberation Day (July 4), and Labor Day (September 1).
Further, the government will be authorized to pay only 11 percent of the total payroll to the NMI Retirement Fund. The actuary-recommended rate of 36.77 percent.
The bill will also allow the governor to reprogram nearly $6 million from various revenue sources outside the General Fund.
The measures are expected to raise approximately $17 million for government operations.
Fitial had asked the Legislature to enact the so-called “interim fiscal measures” amid dwindling government revenues and the lack of an updated government budget.
“As you well know, our Commonwealth is currently facing great financial challenges and these financial challenges cannot be properly addressed by the executive branch alone. The executive branch needs the support and assistance of the Legislature,” the governor said.
