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Lawmakers identify options to help CUC
‘Tap $10M utility voucher, $15M casino license fee, or across-the-board budget cuts’
With the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. facing possible receivership and breach of a stipulated order, some lawmakers said yesterday the Inos administration should consider tapping $10 million in utility vouchers that casino developer Best Sunshine International Ltd. plans to give out by mid-October, commit the next $15 million annual casino license fee to fund CUC, or impose across-the-board budget cuts to give to the utilities agency.
“A minimum $2-million government funding for CUC will show good faith effort on our part to help CUC,” House Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications Commission chair Rep. Larry Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) told Saipan Tribune yesterday.
Deleon Guerrero said Gov. Eloy S. Inos still has the budget bill so he can line-item veto it to give more funds to CUC.
The PUTC Committee chair also said the governor can implement an across-the-board budget cut, and those funds can then be used to pay CUC.
The Public School System, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the central government, and other agencies owe CUC over $20 million in unpaid utility debts. This is in addition to millions of dollars that residential users also owe CUC.
Rep. Ray Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) separately said Saipan might once again experience rolling blackouts if the government does not help fund its power, water, and wastewater operations.
Tebuteb said the administration may consider asking Best Sunshine to directly contribute $10 million to CUC for its operations rather than use that $10 million in utility vouchers to residents as part of its community chest proposal.
Under the $3.14-billion Saipan casino license agreement, Best Sunshine will provide $10 million in the form of CUC vouchers within 60 days of the Aug. 12 date of license issuance.
To date, Best Sunshine does not have a clear cut criteria yet in identifying recipients of these vouchers.
Leon Guerrero agrees with Tebuteb’s proposal to tap the $10 million, pointing out that “time is of the essence.”
“Since Best Sunshine will have to distribute $10 million by mid-October anyway, why can’t this money be given directly to CUC?” he said. “That way, everyone really benefits because they won’t have to experience power outages for example because CUC has funds to operate and maintain its facilities and equipment, and not only those who are supposed to get vouchers.”
Tebuteb said another option is for the administration to set aside Best Sunshine’s next payment of $15 million in annual casino license fee for CUC.
The lawmaker acknowledged the tough choice between restoring 25 percent of retirees’ pension next year or going into rolling blackouts once again that will affect not only retirees but everyone in the community.
“There’s high potential of rolling blackouts again in the next few months. …But I hope I’m wrong. It’s now a policy call,” Tebuteb said.
Leon Guerrero said while this is another option, it will still be about a year before the CNMI could receive the $15 million annual license fee.
