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…as House fails to overturn veto on DPL bill
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Posted on Oct 02 2008
The House of Representatives yesterday failed to override the governor’s veto of a bill creating a deputy secretary of the Department of Public Lands for Rota and Tinian.
The Senate has previously voted to override the veto, but supporters of the bill failed to muster enough votes in the Lower House to pass the legislation over the governor’s opposition. The vote was 12-6. The House needed 13 votes to override.
The bill proposed to establish a DPL deputy secretary to be appointed by the mayors of Rota and Tinian.
Proponents of the bill say it is important to ensure Rota and Tinian’s interests are protected whenever DPL takes any action related to public lands in the two islands. “There are DPL transactions that are going unchecked by the local leadership,” said Rota Rep. Victor Hocog, who favored the bill.
But Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and other opponents of the bill believe that certain provisions of the bill may conflict with the CNMI Constitution. Rep. Tina Sablan, one of the six lawmakers who voted to uphold the governor’s veto, said the bill’s proposal to create a position “that is funded by DPL, but not answerable to DPL” is questionable.
Rep. Heinz Hofschneider echoed her statement, pointing to the constitutional provision that restricts the use of DPL income to the department’s own administrative costs and investment by the Marianas Public Land Trust.
In addition to Sablan and Hofschneider, the lawmakers who voted against the override are Representatives Francisco Dela Cruz, Raymond Palacios, Edward Salas, and Stanley Torres. Rep. Justo Quitugua abstained from the vote, and Rep. Ray Yumul was absent. All of the other members voted for the override.
