House panel to press Finance and OMB on proposed FY 2015 budget

House Ways and Means Committee chair Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan) said yesterday that his panel will call in next week officials of the Department of Finance and Office of Management and Budget to shed light and answer lawmakers’ questions on the governor’s proposed $134-million budget for fiscal year 2015.
Sablan said the committee would have to meet first with Finance and OMB officials tentatively on April 31 before finalizing a draft concurrent resolution on the 2015 budget.

“We would be reviewing with Finance and OMB the governor’s budget submission, the revenue projections, the sources of revenues. We want to hear from the administration how they came up with $134 million,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.

He said lawmakers will also be expected to ask questions whether any Saipan casino-related revenues are already incorporated into the budget. Electronic gaming is already included in the projected revenues for 2015.

Sablan said the committee is also awaiting the governor’s supplemental budget for fiscal year 2014, which would help them review and analyze the 2015 proposed budget.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos said Monday the supplemental budget could be submitted to the Legislature as early as this week. He said it could be between $8 million and $9 million, but they would be strictly for the additional $5 million needed to complete the government’s fiscal year 2014 payment to the retirement settlement trust fund and the government health insurance premium.

Sablan said the committee would also look into government agencies’ unpaid obligations to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. of over $20 million, which critics say is among the reasons why CUC does not have enough funds to operate or proposes increased rates.

“We have to start addressing government obligations to CUC,” he added.

The Ways and Means Committee will also be calling in certain agencies for a hearing on their 2015 budgets.

Sablan said agencies should not expect a drastic change in their budget as proposed by the governor because the additional projected resources available for government operations in 2015 are mostly going toward the retirement settlement trust fund and increased government health insurance premiums, as well as the payment for legal fees in the Betty Johnson lawsuit and settlement.