FY 2001 budget faces new delay

The FY 2001 budget faces yet another delay as the Senate does not anticipate to approve it in time for the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, according to the chair of the Fiscal Affairs Committee, Sen. Edward U. Maratita.

But he said senators will press for a bicameral conference committee with the House of Representatives to hammer out a compromise on the spending proposal.

If it pushes through, this will be the second time in over four months that both houses are going to lock horns on the budget — a situation that has come to mark review of the government’s fiscal spending every year.

“What the Senate wants is to [pass] the budget so we can go into a conference,” Mr. Maratita told reporters in an interview.

“I know the House will reject that, and the sooner we get into a conference the better for both houses so that we can iron out our problems.”

There is no definite date, however, as to when the upper house will finally approve the budget. Next week’s fiesta on Rota will further delay the process, according to the senator.

He said his committee has even yet to come up with an agreement on how to divide the projected $221.66 million revenues for FY 2001 among various departments and agencies.

“Maybe, it’s pretty hard to pass it on the first week of October because of our fiesta on Rota. On the second week, we will come up with something,” added Mr. Maratita.

Retroactive pay hike

The Rota senator reiterated again his commitment to seek funding for the long-overdue compensation of government employees entitled to salary increase implemented in 1991. Finance officials have estimated that this obligation would cost the coffers more than $9 million.

But he has previously expressed plan to allocate initial funding between $2 million to $3 million – money that were not appropriated under the House’s budget proposal although provisions were inserted to ensure that any lapses could be set aside for such payment.

“We will try our best to make an improvement on the budget because my primary concern is to make sure that I get [to fund] retroactive pay for employees,” said Mr. Maratita.

Some 2,000 former and eligible government employees have been waiting for the 14 percent across-the-board pay hikes since PL 7-31 was passed nine years ago.

In response to numerous appeals, the lower house has recommended transfer of lapsed funds from personnel expenditures in FY 2001 into an account to specifically pay these people.

But the provision, according to Mr. Maratita, is not enough to assure these employees as the proposal did not earmark specific amount for compensation.

More funds

Aside from the retroactive pay increase, the Senate is expected to increase the share of each of the island municipalities of Rota and Tinian, which their representatives in the House had raised when the budget was approved.

Under the present proposal, each will get $14.3 million which falls shorts of the $15 million local officials had requested from the Tenorio administration.

The amount was higher than the original $13 million allocation submitted by the governor, but there is no actual hike in the spending limit of the two islands since additional funds came only to shoulder utilities costs.

Last year, the Legislature failed to act timely on the FY 2000 budget in the wake of differences on how to appropriate the money amounting to $207 million.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio then vetoed the proposal both houses approved only last May, citing potential deficit spending and mass layoff it would have brought with barely four months into the next fiscal year.