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Senate names conferees to break deadlock on Article 12 initiative
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Posted on Jul 12 2012
Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) has named three Senate conferees that will work with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to break a deadlock on an Article 12 legislative initiative.
Sen. Ralph Torres (R-Saipan), the Resources and Economic Development Program Committee chair, will lead the three-member conferees team from the Senate.
The conference committee will attempt to come up with a compromise on the initiative, which seeks to change the 25-percent blood quantum requirement to “at least some degree” of Chamorro or Carolinian blood or a combination of these, in order to be considered a person of Northern Marianas descent.
“I know the importance of addressing the blood quantum, as well as the 99-year lease and I hope the conference committee will result in addressing both issues,” Torres told Saipan Tribune yesterday.
The other two conferees on House Legislative Initiative 17-3, House Draft 1, Senate Substitute 1 are Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) and Sen. Juan Ayuyu (Ind-Rota).
Torres said the first meeting of the Senate and House conferees may be next week.
Their House counterparts are acting speaker Felicidad Ogumoro (Cov-Saipan), House Natural Resources Committee chair Joe Palacios (R-Saipan), and Rep. Ray Tebuteb (R-Saipan).
Under Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution, only persons of Northern Marianas descent can own land in the CNMI.
The House rejected on Friday the Senate’s amendment to HLI 17-3, HD1, which inserted a provision increasing the maximum number of years on private land leases from the current 55 years to 99 years.
This comes barely a month before the deadline for submitting legislative initiatives to the Commonwealth Election Commission, for placement on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Manglona, in a separate interview, said he also named the three Senate conferees on House Bill 17-214, authored by Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan), which seeks to strengthen the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission.
Leading the conferees is Ayuyu, also the chairman of the Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications Committee. The two others are Sen. Henry San Nicolas (Cov-Tinian) and Hofschneider.
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
