House holds off action on business reform measures

The House of Representatives yesterday agreed to withhold final action on the comprehensive labor and business reform measure to allow other private sector groups to submit proposed amendment to the legislation.

But House Bill 12-39, or the Omnibus Labor and Business Reform Act of 2000, stirred up discussion anew at yesterday’s session as opponents of the measure sought the changes before voting on second and final reading.

“I don’t want this bill to be railroaded by the House,” said Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, author of the measure. “I want as much deliberation.”

The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and the CNMI Contractors Association have both asked the lower chamber to defer action so that they can make recommendations.

They are expected to present their proposals within the week, according to Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta.

Under the bill revised by the House Commerce and Tourism Committee, laws viewed as restrictive to doing business on the island will be lifted, including the hiring moratorium on guest workers as well as the three-year limit imposed on their stay in the CNMI.

It will also repeal the fair wage act providing local workers same benefits granted to nonresident workers as well as ease some provisions on the garment cap, while creating job opportunities for U.S. citizens in the Commonwealth.

During the discussion facilitated by Commerce and Tourism Committee chair Rep. Florencio T. De Leon Guerrero, opponents of the bill urged further review to insert amendment they believed are needed as protection.

Rep. Diego T. Benavente suggested that the measure include provision allowing hotel and the construction industries to tap labor pool with temporary working authorization which is similar to the one already in place for the garment manufacturing sector.

He, however, objected to eliminating the $50,000 minimum investment capital for new businesses, repealing the fair wage act and lifting the hiring ban. Noting that local workers are doing the same job as nonresidents for a lot less money, he said a minimum wage increase is in order to benefit the locals.

Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, on the other hand, recommended revamp of the Nonresident Workers Act where he said inequity between guest and local workers has sprung out in the last few years.

“We must not compromise the accessibility of our local people to job opportunities,” he told the session.

But Mr. Fitial maintained HB 12-39 is just one of slew of legislation being eyed by the House leadership as part of their efforts to revitalize the economy and expand its base beyond tourism and garment manufacturing.

“The bottom-line is that we are trying to stimulate economic growth and if we are going to restrict businesses… this environment will not be conducive [to attracting investments],” he said.

The island has been going through economic hardships since late 1997 as a fallout of the currency crisis in Asia, its main source of tourists and investors.

But while most Asian countries have recovered in recent months, the CNMI has yet to regain its economic foothold which analysts have blamed on reform measures viewed by the private sector as anti-business.