Relief for Prior Service Fund eyed

In a bid to provide short-term relief to the fast-dwindling Prior Service Trust Fund, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka has asked for $3 million from the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior that would be used to tide over the fund’s financial needs until a long-term solution is identified.

This came amid a recent meeting between Fund Administrator Jerry Facey and President Tommy Esang Remengesau Jr. of Palau, during which they agreed to help each other in drumming up more interest in the U.S. Congress about the state of the Prior Service Trust Fund.

According to Facey, the Fund’s chairman, Ben Camacho, had received a letter from Akaka (D-Hawaii), informing him of the senator’s move requesting the Senate subcommittee on interior for the $3 million as a temporary solution until they could find a long-term answer to the Fund’s financial problem.

“This is the first real positive sign that we’ve had in a long time. So, we’re quite excited about that, although we’re not out of the wood yet. We have a lot of work to do. We know that it is a start and so, we’re going to bring a lot of attention to this new piece of news,” Facey said.

Akaka’s letter came amid Facey’s recent meeting with Remengesau and Palau’s local leadership, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President.

To preserve momentum, Facey said he is now coordinating a big campaign with all the government of the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, the CNMI, and Palau.

Facey said that Gov. Juan N. Babauta has already written to Interior Secretary Gayle Norton, Akaka and Sen. Daniel Inouye to seek their assistance in getting the needed funding.

The Fund administrator had earlier said that the Prior Service Trust Fund is going to run out of money in July this year.

With October being the earliest that the U.S. Congress can appropriate the money needed, Facey said that the Fund’s beneficiaries are now getting their benefits every other month, instead of monthly, to ensure that the available money is stretched.

He said that, of the over $10 million that were appropriated by the U.S. Congress through the years for this purpose, less than $800,000 remain.

With the Fund paying over $100,000 a month, “we’ll be out of money by this summer. The situation as pretty scary,” he said. “We have over 2,000 beneficiaries, of which about 470 are from the Northern Marianas, who all depend on this money every month.”

The group has been lobbying with the US Congress and American administration for the last six years for the $24-million funding that is going to be required to fund the program for the next 45 years.

The Prior Service Trust Fund is part of a law passed in 1967, when the Congress of Micronesia passed a social security system. At that time, the CNMI was part of Micronesia.

Before the passage of the Micronesian social security system, there were no benefits being given to government workers. In recognition of the services given by these government employees between 1944 and 1968, the new social security system incorporated a provision granting additional benefits to these workers.