Kiyu backs business reform bill • But Senate vice president presses for public hearing

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez on Friday vowed to push the proposed comprehensive labor and business reform measure now pending with the upper house as he backed calls by the private sector for a public hearing on the legislation.

He said he has already discussed the possibility of holding the hearing with the chair of the Senate Committee on Resources, Development and Program, but there has been no agreement yet on any firm action from senators.

Committee chair Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, who is off-island, could not be reached for comment.

Business leaders, particularly the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, have repeatedly asked the Senate to conduct a town meeting in order to ensure passage of the bill which they maintained is critical in reviving the local economy.

“If they have been requesting for it and are awaiting action on the bill, we should go on a public hearing,” said Mr. Villagomez in an interview, adding that he’s ready to cast his vote in favor of the legislation.

House Bill 12-39 or the Omnibus Labor and Business Reform Act cleared the lower house in early March, but has yet to be tackled in the Senate.

Chamber members met with senators and Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio last month in which they discussed the fate of the measure proposed by House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial. They expressed fear that the proposal may die despite its significance in improving investments climate on the island.

One of the bills aimed at boosting the CNMI’s ailing economy, the Omnibus seeks to repeal some of the laws put in place by the Tenorio administration in the past two years that were primarily intended to appease Washington against federal takeover of the Commonwealth’s labor and immigration standards.

Chief among these are the moratorium on the hiring of guest workers and the three-year stay limit imposed on nonresidents currently employed in all industries in the CNMI.

The governor earlier has indicated his concerns regarding passage of such a measure, noting that it could affect efforts by the Commonwealth to block S. 1052 which will extend federal immigration laws to the island.

But Mr. Fitial, during his visit to the nation’s capital in early April, stressed that some Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress have thrown their support behind the proposal because they said it is a step in the right direction.