‘Let people vote on reducing Legislature’

Residents and some officials are asking lawmakers to allow voters to decide this November on a proposal to reduce the size of what they describe as a “bloated” government by not killing a legislative initiative that cuts the number of Saipan members of the House of Representatives from 18 to nine.

If the House and Senate pass House Legislative Initiative 17-4, it will place the Legislature reduction plan on the ballot this Nov. 6 election for voter action.

“It’s about time we take action to reduce this bloated government. Lawmakers should pass that legislative initiative to allow us voters to decide. Saipan is a small island with 18 House members. What better way to reduce this government than starting at the Legislature. The Legislature has become an employment agency,” resident Herminia Fusco told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Fusco said she also supports having Saipan House members elected islandwide, instead of by individual precincts.

“This has to be put on the ballot. Times have changed. We cannot allow business as usual. Everything is collapsing around us yet we still have the same big government. What we need is a small and efficient government,” she added.

Fusco was among the six who testified in support of Rep. Joseph Palacios’ (R-Saipan) HLI 17-4 on Thursday night at Dandan Elementary School. Only 11 residents showed up in that public hearing.

The previous night at Garapan Elementary School, only six people showed up and only two testified. They both expressed support for Palacios’ initiative.

Palacios said even on hot issues such as government size reduction, only a few people show up for a host of reasons.

“That’s why I have been telling my colleagues to deliberate on the bill and pass it, and then let the people decide on it when it’s already on the ballot. It takes longer to set up the venue for the public hearing than the actual hearing,” Palacios said.

He hopes that the fate of HLI 17-4 won’t be similar to the legislative initiative on Article 12 that the Senate recently killed, depriving voters the chance to decide the issue themselves.

“I say it again. Our economy is down, our population is down, nothing justifies a big government. It’s the people that decide about their Constitution,” he added.

He said it would have been better if the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations held the public hearings last year, shortly after he introduced HLI 17-4 in February 2011, instead of waiting for the last-minute, when people are already flooded with other serious problems such as the Retirement Fund Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and a hospital that may be forced to shut down.

“But even if only a few showed up, all of them supported the initiative. Nobody opposed it. I hope the committee would recommend passage,” Palacios said.

Rep. Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan), chairman of the House JGO Committee, said there were other pressing matters that needed to be prioritized, that’s why the panel is holding the public hearing on HLI 17-4 only now.

“Besides, the Legislature has until August to vote on this bill and have it placed on the ballot. We still have time,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune.

He also said the panel will hold hearings in every Saipan precinct. With Precincts 1 and 3 over, the next public hearings will be in the remaining precincts.

Demapan reiterated that as an individual lawmaker, he supports reducing the number of lawmakers. But as committee chairman, he needs to get the consensus of the panel before making any decision.

“As long as I am the chairman of the JGO Committee, there will be no shortcuts,” he added.

Palacios reiterated that his initiative tells the public that the Legislature is willing to be part of the solution to reduce government spending and increase efficiency. He said reducing the size of the House would result in savings in excess of $1 million annually.

His HLI 17-4 seeks to amend Article 2, Section 4 subsections (a), (b) and (c) of the CNMI Constitution.

The over $1 million in annual savings will be realized “by cutting the present budget by each representative’s salary of $39,500 together with their respective annual budget of $84,146. This savings of $1,112,814 would be significant in light of the current economic circumstances,” the initiative states.

There are currently 20 House members. Of this number, Rota and Tinian each have one; the rest, 18, are from Saipan. The Senate has nine members comprising three each from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

Glen Hunter, another resident who testified in support of HLI 17-4 Thursday night, said that altering the CNMI Constitution to cap the total representatives for the CNMI at 11 (nine from Saipan and one each from Rota and Tinian) instead of 20 is a simple change that will save the CNMI millions of dollars.

“With all the pressing issues we face in the CNMI, it is refreshing to see at least some signs of positive change. Change is a slow process but it is happening. How many of us would have ever imagined a sitting representative putting forth a bill that cuts the size of the House by almost half? All three representatives that showed up to the hearing expressed their support for it. That is also another first,” Hunter said.

He said the initiative “is a good first step” and commends Palacios for drafting the bill and the committee for holding public hearings on it.

“I also commend Rep. Tony Sablan and Rep. Ralph Demapan for publicly stating their support for this initiative. I wish it could go further to reduce the size of government but I realize that since it is an initiative it has to be very focused and pose only a single question to be placed on the ballot,” Hunter said.

He said some have questioned the initiative’s timing and others have said it will be dead on arrival if it makes it to the floor of the House.

“I, on the other hand, do not believe there is ever a bad time to start trying to cut the size of government and hope for its swift passage. As someone once stated, things don’t get better by chance, they get better by change. The Legislature can lead by example by executing this change. I encourage everyone in the community to read the initiative and contact your representatives to let them know how you feel about it,” Hunter added.

Rep. Frank Dela Cruz (R-Saipan) echoed the sentiment that the House is “bloated and has very little to show for [it] with real crisis at hand.”

“While I believe that this will save the local government funds, the bigger question is how will those savings be used by the administration?” he said.

Dela Cruz feels that the number of senators should also be reduced to four from the current nine: two senators from Saipan, one from Rota, and one from Tinian.

Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) said he supports Palacios’ initiative and is encouraging his colleagues to also support it when it comes to the Senate.

“Just like the Article 12 initiative which unfortunately was defeated in the Senate, this House initiative should be passed by the Legislature so that the people can decide on it during the election,” he said.

While he has yet to read the full text of HLI 17-4, Sen. Henry San Nicolas (Cov-Tinian) believes that if the intent is cost saving and government efficiency, then he would vote “yes” if it comes to the Senate.

There are other members, however, that do not support HLI 17-4 as written.

House floor leader George Camacho (Ind-Saipan) said he would have to vote “no” to the way the initiative is written.

“I don’t mind the reduction in numbers. It is the other section I cannot agree on, the part that makes Saipan an islandwide election. It will be devastating for the smaller precincts like Precinct 2, 4 and 5. We are already outnumbered, having an islandwide election will ensure that the residents of those precincts are not represented,” he said.