Reyes urges Tenorio on garment-cap bill

The chair of the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee yesterday urged Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to sign the garment cap measure pending before his office to help alleviate the tight financial condition of the CNMI government following continuous drop in revenues.

Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes maintained the proposed law will generate at least $2 million in additional income for the public coffers which can fund critical agencies in the commonwealth.

Likewise, the senator frowned on Tenorio’s plan to implement fresh cuts in government spending, including layoff and pay reduction of government personnel, when the administration has yet to exhaust all means to shore up the dwindling revenues.

“All the governor has to do is sign that legislation,” Reyes said in an interview, referring to House Bill 11-315 that seeks to establish quota at 15, 727 the number of foreign workers employed in the garment sector.

The measure has passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but House Speaker Diego T. Benavente has warned that it will increase the size of the garment work force by 2,000 more employees.

This action, according to Benavente, would further strain local infrastructure as well as impact on CNMI relations with Washington which have cooled in recent years due to alleged inability of the island government to curb the large alien worker population here.

Reyes shrugged fear that it would draw anger of the federal government, saying that the Clinton administration has a mind set already to press takeover of CNMI labor and immigration while ignoring local reforms.

“We need to help ourselves locally because we cannot depend anymore on the feds,” he added, citing that they are even proposing to slash funding provided under the Capital Improvement Projects.

If the bill is signed into law, the government expects to earn from nonresident workers’ fees, user fees and other direct contribution, according to Reyes.

Tenorio has remained mum on the pending legislation.

Reyes also called on the administration to seek ways to boost its income while at the same time implement necessary budget reduction because of the serious financial crisis besetting the government.

“What has caused us to need more money is because we increase unnecessarily the size of the government,” Reyes said.

“I feel sorry with the governor that he has to deal with this mess that he inherited,” Reyes explained. “But still we cannot ignore the fact that we can still generate revenues.”

The legislator made an impassioned appeal to Tenorio to act on the bill, warning that further delay will only prolong failure of the government to improve its financial condition.

“I’d like for the governor to begin sending positive message to the people instead of all the bad headlines that we keep receiving like revenues are down,” Reyes said.

Admitting that it is a quick solution to the cash flow problem, the senator said “it is a step into the right direction.”

Reyes added: “We can’t afford to procrastinate. This is not the time to be very picky and selected.”