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Bill that allocates $344K for Tinian is vetoed
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Posted on Jan 25 2023
Citing insufficient funds, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios has vetoed a local bill that seeks to appropriate $344,000 from revenues collected from poker fees in the Second Senatorial District, or Tinian and Aguiguan.
Palacios informed Tinian and Aguiguan Legislative Delegation chair Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors (R-Tinian) and House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) last Friday that he vetoed House Local Bill 22-44, D1.
The purpose of the bill is to appropriate $344,000 from revenues collected from poker fees on Tinian, saying the acting Finance secretary prepared the certification of funds on Dec. 16, 2022.
The governor said that the Department of Finance has informed him that, as of Jan. 20, 2023, funds collected from poker fees on Tinian are insufficient to cover the appropriation set forth in the bill.
“Due to the insufficiency of funds, I must respectfully exercise my constitutional authority to veto this bill,” Palacios told King-Nabors and Villagomez in the letter that the Senate clerk received yesterday.
Rep. Patrick H. San Nicolas (R-Tinian) introduced the legislation on Dec. 22, 2022. The Tinian and Aguiguan Legislative Delegation passed the bill on Jan. 3, 2023.
The bill seeks to allocate $281,500 to the Mayor of Tinian and Aguiguan for personnel and operations; $50,000 to the Mayor of Tinian and Aguiguan’s discretionary account; $7,500 to the Tinian Municipal Scholarship pursuant to Tinian Local Law 20-16; and $5,000 to the Tinian Athletics Sports Association for operations.
