House to amend alien hiring bill

The House of Representatives is expected to amend during its session today Senate Bill 14-98, which aims to extend the hiring of nonresident workers in the government.

Rep. Crispin Ogo, chair of the House conference committee on House Bill 14-344, the forerunner of S.B. 14-98, said yesterday that the bill will be tackled today, hopefully passed, and referred back to the Senate for its concurrence.

“We met earlier today [in the House] and we agreed to amend this bill. We’ll then send it back to the Senate,” said Ogo, who declined to reveal the nature of the amendments.

S.B. 14-98 grants authority to certain government offices to keep nonresident workers after Sept. 30, 2005.

That sunset provision, which expires this Friday, prohibits the government from hiring any more nonresident workers within the government. The sunset provision affects the departments of Public Health, Public Works, and Commerce; and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

The Senate bill had approved extending the deadline for the agencies except for CUC Saipan, which currently employs nine nonresident workers, mostly at CUC Power Generation. Ogo did not say if the House amendment would mean including CUC Saipan in the coverage.

Saipan senators Pete P. Reyes and Thomas P. Villagomez earlier objected to the continued hiring of nonresident workers at CUC Saipan, hinting that local residents should be given an opportunity to get these positions.

CUC executive director Lorraine A. Babauta said that CUC Saipan currently employs nonresidents as accounting officer (1), information technology analyst (1), engineers (3), trades technician (3) including one for CUC’s Geological Survey Well Drilling section and two for power generation as power plant mechanics.

Others who are hired by a staffing agency work at the power plant.

CUC Rota has two nonresident plant mechanics. These nonresidents, according to Babauta, provide on-the-job training to resident workers.

The CUC official said that all CUC is asking the Legislature is to be permitted to have 10 nonresident workers for all three islands and to be able to contract with a staffing company for personnel at Power Generation.

Meantime, Ogo said that issue should be simple. “If there’s no local residents available for the positions, then we should hire nonresidents.”

Ogo said the House could not be blamed for the delay in the passage of the bill, noting that his team has been ready since August 30.

He said that the senate only appointed its conference committee members, led by Sen. Luis Crisostimo, on Aug. 30.

Ogo, likewise, said that he had expected that Crisostimo would come back with the conference committee report after a consultation with fellow members, but he said he just learned about the senator’s introduction of S.B. 14-98.

Ogo said the senate bill reflects the committee report, “but I was expecting him (Crisostimo) to come back to us.”

Crisostimo earlier said that H.B. 14-344 is dead now since its intent is now carried in S.B. 14-98.

Ogo said that House members would oppose the provision of housing assistance to nonresident workers.

S.B. 14-98 aims to grant the DPH five years or up to Sept. 30, 2010 to hire physicians and dentists and two years or up to Sept. 30, 2007 to hire other health professional workers.

It also allows the DPH to offer nonresident physicians and dentists a two-year contract initially and one-year term thereafter.

Other nonresident workers would remain at one-year contract terms at DPH.

The senate bill gives Department of Commerce and CUC Tinian and Rota two years and Department of Public Works one year or Sept. 30, 2006.