Covenant Party’s Precinct 1 candidates back tax credit

In a display of unity and cohesiveness, the Covenant Party’s Precinct 1 candidates have jointly pledged to uphold and defend the CNMI’s educational tax credit, saying the existing law promotes education and helps parents, students, teachers, and school administrators.

The existing educational tax credit allows taxpaying businesses and employees to divert a portion of their tax liability to qualified public and private schools for educational expenses.

The law allows private businesses and individuals to give as much as $5,000 a year to educational institutions of their choice in the form of a tax credit.

Covenant Precinct 1 candidates include Jacinta Kaipat, Rose T. Ada, Jesus C. Muna, Herman P. Sablan, and Juan C. Deleon Guerrero.

In a Covenant Party meeting held last month, they strongly endorsed the educational tax credit and encouraged all businesses to contribute to schools via the tax credit. They further pledged to resist any further attempts to eliminate the tax credit if elected.

The educational tax credit had been under assault during the current 14th Legislature, when Rep. Janet U. Maratita introduced House Bill 14-238 to repeal the popular tax credit last year.

Maratita, a Republican Party candidate for Precinct 1, argued that the tax credit only benefited a few private schools and should be repealed.

“It’s against [the] public interest. A law should benefit the public but ETC benefits only a few people,” Maratita told the Saipan Tribune in an interview in October 2004.

Saipan International School, Mt. Carmel School, and Calvary Christian School have previously raised objections to Maratita’s previous attempt to repeal the educational tax credit, which is also available to public schools.

Maratita had also argued that the ETC should be given directly to the Commonwealth Treasury in order “to fund the pressing needs of the Commonwealth for essential services in the areas of education, public utilities, health care, and public safety.”

Although House Bill 14-238 did not pass the House during the 14th Legislature, supporters of the tax credit fear that the measure could be revived in the next Legislature if Maratita secures another term and chooses to revisit the issue with a new House majority inclined to support such a repeal.

The current House leadership headed by Covenant Party stalwarts strongly opposes the repeal of the educational tax credit, as does the Covenant Party itself. The repeal, however, is particularly disagreeable to the Covenant Party’s Precinct 1 candidates, which includes Juan C. Deleon Guerrero, a private sector human resources manager working for a company that regularly avails of the educational tax credit as part of its community outreach program.