Chamber conducts poll on 3-year limit

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce sent a survey form to all its members Tuesday to determine their position on the highly-controversial three-year limit law.

The move is seen as the start of the Chamber’s galvanized push for the repeal of the three-year limit law which is still pending before the Senate.

Chamber President Anthony Pellegrino said the survey will act as a barometer to gauge how its members feel about the three-year limit. He also inferred that they will use the poll in their discussions with lawmakers.

Some of the questions asked on the poll cannot be more direct. The first question on the nine-item survey instructed members to either check “yes” or “no” on the question: “Do you support the repeal of the 3-year limit law PL 11-69 as HB 12-317?”

A variety of questions like, number of employees, number of alien and resident employees were also asked. However, the survey form also tried to find out how many of the member companies’ employees would be affected if the three-year limit is not repealed..

It also asked specific questions like whether the non-repeal of PL 11-69 would lead companies to mothball expansion plans and what hardships they will encounter if government decides to expatriate guest workers who have stayed in the island for three consecutive years.

The three-year limit poll follows public statements by business leaders avowing to their support for the repeal of the measure. The House of Representatives last March 1 passed HB 12-317 by a vote of 11 yes, an abstention and a lone dissension.

The bill, authored by Rep. Malua Peter, seeks to rescind PL 11-69 in its entirety. Already, Senate President Paul A. Manglona has come out in the open saying the Senate would not likely repeal the law in toto and may create its own version.

Business leaders the past weeks have aired their concerns over the seeming impasse on the repeal of the law. Mr. Pellegrino said the upper house’s dilly-dallying on the HB 12-317 is exacting an emotional toll on the islands’ overseas work force and their employers.

Chamber Vice President Richard Pierce, on the other hand, said he would personally organize a group to go up to Capitol Hill to protest. While two-time Chamber President Jose “Joe” Ayuyu appealed to lawmakers that, “they should be practical about the reality of the situation.”