Bill appropriating $250K enacted

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres signed into law last week a bill that appropriates a total of $3 million from the annual casino license renewal fee payment, with $250,000 going directly to repairs for the Admiral Herbert G. Hopwood Middle School.

House Local Bill 21-28, S1, D6 goes into the records as Saipan Local Law 21-10 after Torres signed the bill into law last Oct. 3, 2019.

The legislation appropriates a total of $3 million from the annual casino license renewal fee payment to various projects within the five precincts of Saipan.

The Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program is allocated $500,000; the Saipan Mayor’s Office is allocated $250,000; the Northern Islands Mayor’s Office is allocated Office $50,000; the Center for Living Independently is allocated $94,000; the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation is allocated $200,000; the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library gets $32,375; the Carolinian Affairs Office is allocated $21,595; the Indigenous Affairs Office is allocated $26,400; the Family Violence Task Force is allocated $15,000; the Association of Pacific Islands Legislatures is allocated $20,630; Micronesian Legal Services Corp. is allocated $55,000; Northern Marianas Athletics is allocated $100,000; Saipan Baseball League is allocated $20,000; 2019 Mariana Islands fishing and Seafood Festival is allocated $25,000; the Public Defenders Office is allocated $90,000; and the NMI Museum is allocated $30,000.

Another $300,000 is allocated to projects in Precinct I, specifically $35,000 each for Dandan Middle School and Francisco M. Sablan Middle School, and $50,000 each to Saipan Southern High School, San Vicente Elementary School, Koblerville Elementary School, and Hopwood Middle School.

The law also sets aside $300,000 for projects in Precinct II and is equally shared for the repair, construction, and rebuilding of facilities at the William S. Reyes Elementary School and Hopwood Middle School, while $300,000 is set aside for projects in Precinct III, equally shared between the ongoing road project near the Oleai Church and the Industrial Drive.

Another $200,000 goes to the construction of roads and drainages within Precinct IV, including sidewalks, crosswalks, speed bumps, roads, children’s playgrounds, and traffic signages, while Kagman High School, Tanapag Middle School, and Hopwood Middle School get $25,000 each. Some $20,000 goes to the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, while the remaining $5,000 goes to the 10% local match for Federal Emergency Management Agency funds.

Under the law, $225,000 goes to the completion of the paving project for Tangang Tangang Road in Papago and paving of Kama Street in Kagman III in Precinct V, while the remaining $75,000 is divvied equally between Hopwood Middle School, Chacha Oceanview Middle School, and the Kagman Elementary School for repairs, reconstruction, and rebuilding of facilities.