Teno, senators bicker over scholarship funds

Legislators and administration officials appear headed into a major collision over the local scholarship program in the wake of aggressive campaign by the Senate to slash the proposed budget from non-essential services to boost its funding.

A group of senators met the other day with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and some of his staff to discuss several issues, among them the plan by the Legislature to increase appropriation for the scholarship program under the FY 2000 spending package.

The governor has given way to lawmakers to juggle the proposed $206 million budget, which has yet to get approval pending review by the House Ways and Means Committee and the finance department, according to the governor.

“I’m sure that if we could identify some money, definitely we will support the students, especially the scholarship for students abroad,” Tenorio told reporters in an interview yesterday.

He, however, acknowledged differences with the Legislature over the financial aid policy, which have heightened in recent months following the reduction in the budget proposed by the administration for this fiscal year.

“I don’t want to point finger to anybody but it always boils down to how we are going to find additional funding to provide for the scholarship,” said Tenorio.

Due to the continuous harsh economic conditions confronting the island, several departments and agencies are receiving lower allocation in FY 2000, including the scholarship which has suffered nearly 50 percent cut from $4.4 million last year to $2.3 million.

The program is also facing a projected $1.2 million deficit, forcing the administration to impose new regulations that have reduced the grants given to off-island students while eliminating the Educational Assistance Program for NMC students. More than 1,000 scholars are recipients of the government’s various financial aid.

But the governor defended his administration from accusations that students were not informed about the policy change, saying the Scholarship’s Office has notified them prior to its implementation.

“We are trying everything possible to see if we could fund not only the scholarship. [But] when you start thinking about funding some needs, you have to take into consideration that there are other outstanding accounts that we have to meet,” he said.

Budget cuts

Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, who has been very vocal about his displeasure over the decision of the executive branch, had broached in the meeting a plan by lawmakers to cut funding for other government services in order to help the students.

“This was a very frank discussion,” he said in a separate interview. “I have raised concern about the budget not being entertained. . . I made it very clear about [my] intention with the support of the members.”

Among his recommendations, which he calls “serious, hard decisions,” are the closure of the CNMI liaison office in Manila, elimination of housing allowance for off-island hires of the government, and the shifting of funds from proposed upgrade of computer at the finance department just to benefit scholars.

“If we are to save the money, then let’s divert the savings to the students,” the senator explained. “If we have $206 million, the students want to know how are we going to spend that and how are we going to uphold our commitment.”

He added that every elections, public officials always make campaign promises to prioritize education. “Are we going to renege on our positions?”

So far, local officials are mulling several proposals to resolve the issue, such as tapping Bank of Guam to extend government-guaranteed student loans as well as to utilize land lease funds to invest on the education of the youth.