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JGO sets three public hearings on initiative to shrink House
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Posted on May 19 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
The House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations has scheduled three more public hearings on a legislative initiative that would reduce the number of House of Representatives members from Saipan by half-from 18 to nine.
Rep. Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan), JGO Committee chair, encourages members of the public to attend the hearings and to submit written comments three days prior to the public hearing.
On Monday, May 21, the public hearing will be held at Kagman High School cafeteria starting at 6pm.
On Tuesday, May 22, it will be held at Tanapag Elementary School cafeteria.
The following day, May 23, it will be at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
House Legislative Initiative 17-4 seeks to amend Article 2, Section 4 subsections (a), (b) and (c) of the CNMI Constitution to reduce the number of members in the House of Representatives from the Third Senatorial District from 18 to nine.
Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan), author of HLI 17-4, said he hopes that the House and Senate will pass this legislation so that voters will be able to vote on it in the November elections.
“We should let the people decide on this,” Palacios said, adding that a smaller House will not only save taxpayers’ money at a time when the population has shrunk, but will also make the House more efficient. With the current 20 members in the House-including one each from Rota and Tinian-it takes a long time to pass controversial bills because there could sometimes be 20 different ideas and opinions, he said.
On Thursday last week, the JGO Committee held a public hearing at Dandan Elementary School with 11 residents showing up and only six testifying, expressing support for HLI 17-4. The previous night, only six people showed up at the Garapan Elementary School public hearing. Only two testified, and both supported the initiative.
