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House assures passage of FY 2000 budget
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Posted on Sep 24 1999
The House of Representatives will press for passage of the Fiscal Year 2000 budget proposal instead of piece-meal appropriations to critical departments and agencies, Speaker Diego T. Benavente assured yesterday.
House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Karl T. Reyes has expressed fear that if it fails to submit a final proposal by next week, legislators may have to set aside resources only to few government offices that need funding, while the others will just go under continuing resolution.
“It is my intent to try to pass the budget before the end of the fiscal year,” Benavente said in an interview. “If that is not possible, yes of course a piece-meal is something that we need to support, but I hope we will be able to pass the full budget.”
Benavente, who arrived the other day from attending the recent congressional hearings in Washington D.C., said he has been assured by the committee that it will finalize the spending package in time for legislative approval by next week.
The Legislature has until September 30 to pass the $206 million proposed operational budget of the government for the next fiscal year as required by the Constitution.
But the committee tasked to review the package submitted by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio last April has yet to come up with final funding level for each department or agency due to disagreement on how much resources each should get.
Members of the House and the Senate hope to hold back-to-back sessions next week to vote on the budget, but they are unsure as to what will be the final proposal to be deliberated on the floor.
If legislators fail to approve the budget by the deadline, the government will have to run under continuing resolution on the same spending level from the previous year.
Several departments and agencies have asked the Legislature for additional funding for FY 2000, citing potential disruption in the delivery of public services if they don’t get the requested budget.
Due to continuous harsh economic conditions on the island, Tenorio pared down his proposed spending limit next year to $206 million, a decline of only about two percent from the FY 1999 revised budget of $210 million.
