House to session on Friday

The House of Representatives will hold on Friday its first session since the Nov. 6 election, but the proposed fiscal budget for 2000 will not be in the agenda for discussion, according to Speaker Diego T. Benavente.

Members are expected to pass a joint resolution declaring the seat left by former Sen. Herman Manglona vacant to allow the holding of special polls on Tinian. Other priority measures have also been lined up, including Senate bills and amendments tackled during the Nov. 12 session by senators.

The House last held its session on Sept. 29, a day before the constitutionally-mandated deadline on the passage of the budget bill. However, it held off action on the measure as agreed upon with the governor.

According to Mr. Benavente, he doubts whether the bill will be included in this forthcoming session as he noted that the House Ways and Means Committee has yet to come up with its recommendations.

But he believed the continuing resolution adopted by the Tenorio administration in the absence of the budget will be sufficient to handle government operations efficiently for the next 10 months.

“I’m surprised that we still should push for a budget this time with the lower revenues than the previous budget. As far as the constitutional requirement is concerned to run with balanced budget, these provisions are still within the authority of the continuing resolution,” he said.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio submitted a $206 million budget proposal in April, but disagreements between the Legislature and the administration on how to distribute the resources among departments and agencies had derailed its passage.

Under the continuing resolution, the government follows the spending limit imposed during the previous budget level which also provides greater flexibility for Mr. Tenorio to manage the limited resources. FY 1999 level was at $210 million.

“What is important is to run this government properly and to make sure that vital services are provided to the people,” Mr. Benavente explained. “Whether that’s done through the continuing resolution or with a fiscal budget shouldn’t be an issue.”

But the House leader maintained not passing the budget bill does not mean lawmakers are afraid to make the cuts on appropriation set aside for each agency.

The Senate has been awaiting the budget submission from the House to slash funding for non-essential services in order to increase the share of the scholarship and medical referral programs.

“There is no political motive other than what we feel is the best interest of the public right now,” said Mr. Benavente.