Legislature’s travel spending up 56 pct. By ALDWIN R. FAJARDO

Despite the governor’s call for prudence due to the Commonwealth’s chaotic fiscal house, travel expenses by the 11th Legislature jumped by 56.44 percent amid major reduction in overseas trips by the executive and the judicial branches of government.

Excluding medical referral, necessary for public health, total government travel was reduced by 46 percent to $2.1 million last year from $3.9 million in 1997.

A report from the Department of Finance noted that the Legislature increased its travel spending in 1999 to $704,578 compared with the 1997 level recorded at $454,988.

The Senate spent $433,462 in government money for travel during the period under review, while the House of Representatives used up more than $270,000 for its members’ off-island trips last year.

Also, travel expenses by the Rota Mayor’s Office increased by 119.5 percent while those of the mayors of Saipan and Tinian registered significant drop.

The DOF report also disclosed that the executive branch reduced travel expenses by 73 percent between 1997 and 1999, or from $2.845 million to only $760,410.

At the same time, the Governor’s Office spent only $181,460 in off-island trips during the same period, lower by at least 90 percent from the 1997’s level at $1.7 million.

Had it not because of the need to attend federal takeover hearings in Washington D.C., which required Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s testimony, travel expenditures by Governor’s Office could be lesser, the DOF report said.

Reduction in travel expenses by the departments ranged from minus 31 percent to minus 84 percent, except for the Department of Public Works, according to the report.

The judicial branch reduced travel by 29.72 percent in 1999, while the finance department minimized off-island trip expenses by a whooping 84 percent, with over half of the remaining expenses by the Division of Customs Services.

Majority of government money spent on overseas trips went to the Medical Referral Office, $1.475 million; Senate, $433,462; Rota Mayor, $282,462; House of Representatives, $271,116; Tinian Mayor’s Office, $191,340; Governor’s Office, $181,460; Washington Representative’s Office, $116,449; Judicial, $76,711; and the Department of Public Health, $48,348.

The government is hoping to realize further cuts in expenditures through careful scrutiny of the vehicle and travel requirements of each department and other public offices.