…as legal questions arise

Rep. Herman T. Palacios plans to bring the matter to the Supreme Court. Jocelyn Deleon Guerrero says she doesn’t resent the cut in her working hours, saying she supports the House Speaker. A Legislative Bureau employee, who asked not to be named, questioned the need for the cuts when some personnel at the Governor’s Office are getting salaries beyond the statutory ceiling.

As for the one who started it all yesterday morning, House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider said he could only hope for a miracle “but miracles are hard to come by these days, so I don’t see anything in store that would generate enough revenue for the General Fund for us to safely assume that the 8 percent would go back to its normal level.”

These were just a few of the welter of emotions and reactions that arose after Hofschneider yesterday announced his move to cut the working hours of his staff by two hours daily, in order for him to extend his operational budget until September 30—the end of the current fiscal year.

During the meeting held at the House chamber, it was Palacios who took the announcement the hardest among the lawmakers, saying he will be submitting a legal question to the Supreme Court to ask for clarification whether Gov. Juan N. Babauta is constitutionally allowed to cut the budget allotments of the other agencies and branches of government besides the Executive Branch.

This, despite a recent Attorney General ruling, which said the Governor has the authority to do so, as long as the cuts are proportionate across all agencies and branches of government.

Palacios said that Article IV, Section 11 of the CNMI Constitution allows him to seek for the justices’ assistance in this matter.

“Cutting the budget means cutting food for my employees and cutting bank obligations. What about the Governor? Is he also going to implement that measure? What I see is the fact that the Cabinet of the Governor not only gets the ceiling removed for their salaries, but that the Governor has still not told us that he is going to cut the salary raise that he has offered to his Cabinet members,” said Palacios.

The lawmakers stressed that he is still awaiting the Governor to set an example that he and the other lawmakers can follow.

Palacios said Hofschneider had asked him to put off submitting the legal question to the Supreme Court “but I think that the sooner we get this resolved, the better it is for everyone.”

Although no other lawmaker came out to support Palacios stance, he said that six lawmakers whom he did not identify have approached him and expressed their support.

Although Deleon Guerrero, Hofschneider’s executive secretary, initially refused to answer this reporter’s questions, she categorically said, “No” when asked if she resents the cut in her working hours.

“We accept this in expression of our support for the Speaker,” she said.

Jessica Tomokane, another staff at the Speaker’s Office, said that Hofschneider has already asked the Legislature’s legal counsel to study whether reducing the staff’s working hours would violate any provision in their employment contract.

At the upper chamber, Senate President Paul A. Manglona said all lawmakers receive $155,000 in allotments “so we just have to make adjustments in all other operational costs other than personnel,” particularly since not all members of the Legislature are hiring $155,000 worth of employees.

He stressed that, in these times of economic distress, everyone has to take their share of the burden but priority must be given to personnel. “We have to make sure that the personnel budget remains as is and we have to cut in other areas,” he said.

Sen. Thomas P. Villagomez confirmed that he and his staff are now looking into the same matter, whether to institute the cuts on the hours or the salaries. “I have already sat down with some of my staff and we have already discussed this,” he said.

Villagomez said that if the House and the Senate agree with the cuts as suggested by the Babauta administration, “I guess we will have to go for it. I still believe that it [budget cuts] should be acted upon by both the Legislature and the Executive Branch.”

As for Supreme Court Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan, he wants the Governor to follow the procedures required by statute in implementing a budget cut across the three braches of government.

This means sending a special message to the Legislature mandating that the Legislature effectuate a proportionate budget cut. Once the Governor does this, Demapan said: “I think matters between us concerning the budget reduction will be settled.”