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Senate, House conferees begin budget meeting
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Posted on Sep 19 2011
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
With only 11 days to go before the start of fiscal year 2012, members of the Senate and House conference committee will start meeting this morning to break a deadlock on a $102 million budget bill.
House members led by Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Ray Basa (Cov-Saipan) want their Senate counterparts to appropriate money for the lawmakers’ individual operational account, which senators zeroed out in its substitute budget bill that the House rejected.
Senators led by Fiscal Affairs Committee chair Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota), for their part, will push for increased funding for Northern Marianas College, the Public School System, Rota and Tinian.
Basa, Taimanao, Sen. Ralph Torres (R-Saipan) and Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) said the first conference committee meeting will push through at 10am today.
But Torres said there’s no telling yet what issue or government department will be tackled first.
Hofschneider, for his part, said yesterday that his focus remains the same-increased funding for PSS, NMC, and the Second Senatorial District which is Tinian.
Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos said the Fitial administration is hopeful that the Senate and House will come up with a budget bill acceptable to both houses and the administration by Sept. 30, so that a shutdown can be averted.
Any partial government shutdown could force over 1,000 government employees to be out of jobs, until a budget is passed and signed.
