Lack of quorum delays approval of CIP money

Due to lack of quorum, the House of Representatives failed to pass several key appropriation measures during its session Friday, including legislation that will set aside funding for capital improvement projects under the forthcoming $60 million bond float.

Only 13 representatives were present during the session — the first conducted by the 18-member House since the Nov. 6 midterm elections — short of the required 14 votes for appropriation bills.

Reps. Frank G. Cepeda, Jose A. Hocog, Dino M. Jones, Max Timmo Olopai, and Herman T. Palacios were absent during the whole-day session that was called specifically for the legislation setting aside funds generated from the recent bank loan under a CIP financing scheme approved earlier by lawmakers.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, will need at least three-fourth votes of the House or 14 members. This is one of the measures awaited by the Tenorio administration to seal the $30 million loan by the CNMI from Bank of Guam.

The loan is part of the interim financing sought by the government ahead of the $60 million bond flotation to immediately match federal construction grants under the CIP/702 Covenant funding.

Approximately $40 million worth of new projects will be bankrolled by funds from both the loan and equal amount of federal grants, according to finance officials.

The rest of the money, which is equivalent to $20 million, may be used to substitute the local funding initially set aside for ongoing projects, including those that are not yet finished or about to be completed, or refinance them.

Another measure, also offered by Mr. Hofschneider, seeks to provide exemption from gross revenue tax the interest earned by any financial institution from a loan extended to the government. It will also grant income tax rebate for taxes paid under NMITIT on the interest income.

This will help lower the interest rate as well as the cost of borrowing money from banks under the interim financing scheme, according to legislators.

Delay

Apart from the two CIP legislation, the House decided to postpone voting on other bills due to the lack of quorum, such as:

– waiving excise taxes for telecommunication equipment brought to Rota for six months to allow entry of companies seeking establishment of such services as cellular phone; and

– appropriating $600,000 for the completion of the Division of Mental Health Transitional Living Arrangement Facility.

The House did not set a new session date to tackle these bills, although members hoped to hold one this week. Speaker Diego T. Benavente, however, is leaving today for the tourism and travel fair in Tokyo, Japan.

Among the bills and resolutions passed by members at Friday’s session include:

– HB 11-478, penalizing businesses without license of up to $50,000 (for Senate action);

– HB 11-494, compensating members of the Board of Parole attending board meetings (for Senate action);

– HB 11-498, restricting issuance of Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco license to minors, business dummies as well as those whose licenses were revoked or their stores are within 300 feet of any school (for Senate action);

– HB 11-415, extending expiration of driver’s license to 30 days (approved Senate amendment, heads to governor);

– SB 11-155, removing CPA and CRM from the authority of the Office of the Governor and reinstating their autonomous status (to the governor); and

– two resolutions urging increase in U.S. military presence in the CNMI as well as calling on federal agencies such as EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to clean up the PCB contamination in Tanapag.