‘Compact impact fund cuts due to weak and tainted ties with feds’

The tandem of former governor Juan N. Babauta and Board of Education member Galvin Deleon Guerrero announced their ticket’s policy platform yesterday, highlighting five key areas on their priority list.

The duo, to run in the Republican Party primary poll next month against the tandem of Heinz Hofscheider and Arnold Palacios, said they’re ready to face and address the multiple challenges of the Commonwealth.

Topping the list are the economy, federal relations, education, utilities, and the Retirement Fund.

Titled “A Vision for the Future,” the platform identifies 12 key areas, with five picked as top of the list.

The two emphasized the need to provide a convenient and fair playing field for doing business in the CNMI.

The revival of the economy, they said, lies on the rebuilding of a productive, working relationship with the federal government.

Babauta and Deleon Guerrero believe the anticipated dramatic reduction in the Compact Impact money to the CNMI is a result of “weak and tainted” ties between the current administration and the federal government.

The proposal to reduce the Compact Impact funds for the Commonwealth from $5.1 million to just $1.9 million next fiscal year was made by the U.S. President in consideration of the 41-percent drop in the number of Freely Associated States citizens who migrated to CNMI, based on the latest U.S. Census.

Babauta, given the chance to return to the island’s chief executive post, vowed to “bring back” the millions of Compact Impact dollars due the CNMI.

He said the Commonwealth has a good chance to win the “battle” for Compact Impact money as this was committed by the U.S. Congress in 1986.

Babauta said the CNMI may gain between $25 million to $30 million a year in Compact Impact funds promised by the U.S. Congress through P.L. 99-39, signed in 1986.

He estimated that for the past 22 years, some $550 million could be provided to the Commonwealth.

Yesterday, Babauta said he can regain the trust of the federal government “without a doubt.”

The tandem also believes that trouble with the Retirement Fund could have been prevented if the central government was serious in its duties and mandates for the people.

Whatever actuarial rate would be decided, the obligation to pay the Fund is a “must” for any employer like the government, they said.

Costly litigation due to court battles could have also been prevented if a settlement of the issue was prioritized.

“However, that’s not the case,” Babauta said.

Mindful of the state of local and global economies and declining government revenues, Babauta and Deleon Guerrero focused much of their platform on initiatives that they said rely less on local government revenue and more on federal funding, public-private partnerships, and nonprofit foundations.

“We must ensure fiscal responsibility, competence, and accountability in government services,” they said.

Other areas covered in their platform include tourism, health care, public safety, the environment, and infrastructure.