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Appropriation bill for Rota signed into law
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Posted on Mar 09 2018
On Wednesday, March 7, 2018, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres signed into law a local bill, with the exception of several disapproved items.
House Local Bill 20-55, S1, now on the books as Rota Local Law 20-08, appropriates $1,402,811 to Rota under Public Law 18-56.
Among the vetoed items are:
Section 2(j): “This provision sought to appropriate $70,880 for the operations of the Rota Legislative Delegation under the expenditure authority of the chairperson of the Rota Legislative Delegation. Due to the reservations I have regarding the provision’s failure to delineate the particular purpose for this operational funding, and until such time that the purpose of this funding is made apparent, I must respectfully veto this provision.”
Section 2(r): “This provision sought to appropriate $20,000 to be distributed equally to the Grace Christian Academy and Eskuelan San Francisco. …Local appropriations bills seeking to allocate public funds to private schools cannot be approved absent justification of a public purpose. …Because this provision fails to describe a specific public purpose for these funds, the appropriation violates the public purpose statute—thus, I must respectfully veto this provision.”
In his transmittal message to the delegation, Torres said, “… although I agree with the intent of much of this bill and understand its significance in the sustainability and advancement of the lives of the people of [Rota], I urge the [delegation] to revisit the matter and reappropriate the remaining funds in consideration of the public purpose requirement.” (PR)
