Senate tackles CIP bill today

The Senate is set to amend a pending bill appropriating close to $23 million in capital improvement projects as legislative delegation from Rota and Tinian hammered out yesterday a revised plan that will alter some of the provisions of the initial House measure.

A session is scheduled this afternoon where members of the upper house are expected to vote on the bill as well as other legislative proposals, including an initiative calling for a referendum on a 5-year stay limit for nonresident workers, according to senators.

Lawmakers from Tinian are hoping to infuse funds into the long-delayed expansion of the airport on the island instead of the proposed new fire and police station, while Rota may also change the prioritized project — improvement of the health center — under the CIP bill to meet the immediate needs of the public.

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez is also pushing for the allocation of funds to a road project in San Vicente instead of the construction of village youth centers on Saipan as initially proposed under House Bill 11-380.

But he expressed optimism that the legislation won’t get derailed in the Senate, saying they would sit down with administration officials to work out the amount set aside for these projects.

The House of Representatives last month passed the bill seen to set in motion a plan of the CNMI government to tap millions of dollars in federal funding in what maybe its last hope to generate economic activities on the island.

The Northern Marianas is reeling from its worst crisis in years spawned largely by the prolonged recession in Asia, its main source of tourists and investments.

Island leaders are pinning their hopes on the $154 million in both federal and local funds guaranteed under the CIP to spur the local economy and increase revenues for the government.

HB 11-380 represents the first batch of projects under a recently drafted CIP master plan outlining 50 priority projects on Saipan, Tinian and Rota, identifying some $11.46 million from local revenues to match an equal amount set aside by Washington under the Covenant.

Two of the projects included in the proposal are the Marpi landfill and the closure of Puerto Rico dump site as well as the construction of a new prison on Saipan.

While the Rota delegation worked until late yesterday to revise their share of the CIP funds, Senate President Paul A. Manglona said other members are expected to amend the pending bill.

He will, however, introduce a legislation aimed at easing transfer of nonresident workers in the commonwealth as part of the ongoing labor and immigration reforms by the government.

The bill may be discussed at today’s session, along with a host of other measures pending Senate action, such as the legislative initiative proposed by Villagomez concerning the stay of alien workers on the island.

“I am hoping to complete a draft of the initiative so that the issue can be discussed by the Senate now,” the senator said. “We should let the people vote on the five-year limit,” which is patterned after the regulation of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Villagomez added.