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$500 bonus for retirees, $500 voucher for CUC residential accounts
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres announced Friday that the administration will be giving each retiree a $500 bonus and each Commonwealth Utilities Corp. residential account holder a $500 voucher—all for a total of $9.8 million in federal funds.
In response to Saipan Tribune’s follow-up question yesterday, Torres said $1.3 million is allocated for retirees and $8.5 million for CUC’s residential account holders.
Speaking at a radio news briefing Friday, Torres said the administration, working with the Department of Finance, will be giving every retiree a bonus of $500 starting Dec. 15.
On top of that, Torres said they will also be giving $500 as a voucher to every CUC residential account, which should be credited to their account over the past weekend or early this week.
Earlier this year, the Torres administration distributed local stimulus funds to the entire Commonwealth.
As to the question if the $9.8 million comes from the American Rescue Plan Act funding, Torres only stated that they made sure that the release of the money does not violate any federal regulations.
“[This is] great news, after all the things that we’ve gone through. And I want to thank you for everything you have done, your sacrifices. I want to personally thank you and your family,” the governor said.
Torres said the $500 bonus for the retirees, as well as the $500 for every residential utility meter owner, will go a long way this holiday season.
“So I want to congratulate everyone and let’s have a good holiday,” he said.
For most retirees, Torres said, they would give the bonus through direct deposit, but for others who, for whatever reason, are not able to get the money through direct deposit, then Finance will cut a check for them readily by Dec. 15.
Torres said those with CUC residential accounts don’t have to take any action as they will automatically be given the $500 voucher by having it credited to their account.
Last August, Finance started distributing over 20,000 CNMI or local stimulus cards using ARPA money. Finance earlier estimated to release $25 million in all for 28,000 local stimulus cards.
Eligible individuals received $500 per stimulus card and $500 for each dependent.
