House passes budget bill with ban on funding Fitial’s lawsuit

The House of Representatives on Thursday evening passed a budget that gives the governor free rein over how to spend $75 million for the Executive Branch, but specifically bars him from using any public funds for the lawsuit he had filed against the U.S. government over the new immigration law.

By a 15-4 vote, the House sent the fiscal year 2009 appropriation bill on its way to the Senate, where it is expected to meet strong opposition. Senate leaders are against granting a lump sum budget to the Executive Branch.

The House-passed budget appropriates $165.37 million in resources, including $156.7 million in projected government revenue, $5.17 million in Compact Impact aid, and $3.5 million in “unencumbered” funds from different accounts outside the general fund.

The restriction against funding the federalization lawsuit was one of the major amendments made to the budget bill during debate on the House floor. Rep. Diego T. Benavente, who moved to include the prohibition, said the CNMI government simply could not afford the lawsuit, which he said could cost much more than the initial $400,000 estimate.

Rep. Victor Hocog, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and main sponsor of the budget bill, voted against the bill after the lawsuit funding was inserted. Hocog argued that the pending federal takeover of local immigration is against the Covenant’s promise of self-government and should be challenged in court.

“Whether our forefathers understood then that it would different today is a question that could not be answered by any of us today. But what seems obvious is the fact that what my father voted for in the morning hours of the plebiscite is not what is on the table for dinner last night,” he said.

Hocog added, “Our recourse would, therefore, be a challenge in the courts of law as accorded by the Covenant, or in our quest to reconsider the questions of our political union in the very body that safeguards the provisions that which were assured to bind such relations with the United States, the United Nations World Court.”

In a statement yesterday, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial urged House leaders to reconsider their decision. He said that like himself, the lawmakers “are elected to protect and defend the rights of the people, including their rights of local self government.”

He claimed that the CNMI economy would suffer as much as a 60-percent decline under a federalized labor and immigration system. He added that federalization would reduce the CNMI’s annual budget to less than $80 million, an amount that he said is “not even enough to keep all the hospitals and schools in the CNMI open.” He also cited the loss of some $5 million in nonresident labor application fees once federalization takes effect.

“I call on all the legislators who oppose the lawsuit to please join me in protecting and defending not only the local economy but most especially our rights of local self-government. We owe this to the people of the CNMI,” he said.

Another point of contention was the lump sum appropriation for the Executive Branch. Representatives Edward Salas and Tina Sablan cited the provision as the primary reason they voted against the bill.

Sablan said that giving a lump-sum budget to the Executive Branch is no different from granting the governor an unlimited reprogramming authority. “We’re not calling it by that name, but that’s exactly what it is,” she said.

Aside from his objection to the lump sum budget, Salas said he opposed the bill because it did not address the $9 million shortfall the government was reported to have incurred last fiscal year.

Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, the other lawmaker who voted against the budget, raised concern about a provision requiring agencies to obtain legislative approval for any hiring. He said it was an act of micromanagement.

[B]KEY POINTS[/B] Passes House by 15-4 vote
Budget set at $165.37 million
– $156.7 million in projected revenue
– $5.17 million in Compact Impact
– $3.5 million of “unencumbered” funds
Lump-sum budget for Governor’s Office
Has restrictions vs funding federalization lawsuit