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Lawmakers set meeting with SHEFA on more funding
Members of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation are set to meet with the board of directors of the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance to discuss funding concerns for the scholarship program.
“Yes, they [SHEFA] approached us on the possibility of getting more funds,” said delegation chair Rep. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan).
Sablan also confirmed that the SHEFA has requested for more funding, particularly for the hiring of a legal counsel and other administrative purposes.
“According to the SHEFA board, their request for additional funding will go to operations. They also need a legal counsel and additional funding because they are transferring their offices,” Sablan said.
But the lawmaker said the delegation has yet to schedule the meeting.
Sablan said another possible item on the agenda, should the meeting push through, is a report from SHEFA regarding its grant recipients.
Earlier, Oscar Babauta, chairman of the SHEFA board, disclosed that SHEFA is seeking for more operational funds.
The board’s operational funding has remained unchanged for years and Babauta said the board plans to “seek an audience” with members of the SNILD.
The board plans to request an amendment to an existing law on the SHEFA board’s operational budget.
“The operational budget is about $100,000, which has stayed the same through the years. We have to consider the growth of the island, the need for SHEFA to have its own legal counsel, and other concerns,” Babauta said.
He said the board will not “ask for huge funds” but enough to address its budgetary “constraints.”
Babauta said the board plans to make the request after it meets by the end of the month.
He said the SHEFA board will also work on a report on the status of recipients of grants.
In May, House floor leader George Camacho (R-Saipan) and other SNILD lawmakers requested SHEFA to provide data on how many of its beneficiaries have actually reported back to the CNMI after receiving financial assistance.
