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Senate poised to pass $15 travel promotion fee bill
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Posted on Sep 21 2011
The Senate is poised to pass a bill that seeks to charge passengers from non-U.S. destinations a new $15 “travel promotion fee.”
At the same time, acting governor Eloy S. Inos urged the Legislature to pass such revenue-generating measure to help fund the Marianas Visitors Authority’s tourism promotion programs.
“I emphasized the need for the Legislature to finally pass that tourism incentive fund. That will help MVA in [tourism promotion],” Inos said in an interview at the ribbon cutting for three Commonwealth Utilities Corp. projects in Sadog Tasi yesterday morning.
Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) said yesterday that the Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs is recommending passage of the bill, which will be considered on the floor during Friday’s session. He said the Senate is poised to pass the bill.
House Bill 17-179, House Substitute 1 passed the House in May, and has since been with the Senate.
This bill is an amendment to a Fitial administration-sponsored tourism incentive legislation that became law. The amendment bill contains the new $15 fee to be collected by airlines, besides expanding the target market for the tour agent incentive program.
Collections from this new fee will also be used to “recover costs incurred for enforcement of customs and quarantine laws.”
The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands also earlier asked the Senate and the House to pass the bill, but asks that fees collected should go directly to MVA instead of the general fund to help grow the tourism industry.
[B]Delayed payroll[/B]Inos said that critical government employees will get their paychecks today but not the so-called non-critical employees because of cash shortage.
Those who will get paid on time include doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, and corrections officers. Federally funded employees will also be paid on time.
As of yesterday, there was no telling if the administration will sign a local bill legalizing casino gambling on Saipan. The governor has until the first week of October to act on the bill, introduced by Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan).
