NMI gets less fed grants than other US territories

The Northern Marianas government receives less federal funds than any other U.S. insular areas and has the lowest per capita in terms of the amount granted by Washington, according to the governor’s press office.

In a statement released Friday, the Public Information Office of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio cited figures from local and federal government sources as well financial reports and other private research, most of which done in 1997, to back up its claims.

It said the CNMI generated more revenues from local sources with 91.5 percent of its operational cost and other expenditures in 1997 coming from its own income.

In contrast, Guam had a percentage of 83 percent; Puerto Rico, 74 percent; Palau, 59 percent, Marshall Islands, 39 percent; FSM, 38 percent; and Virgin Islands, 81 percent.

This means that only about 8.5 percent of all public expenditures in the CNMI used federal funds, at least based on data made three years ago.

The island’s revenue collection vis-a-vis its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 41 percent in 1996, which the PIO maintained was greater than for all types of government in the U.S, with average 28 percent in the same year.

But the CNMI managed to cut personnel costs to 49 percent last year, lower than any other insular area. And despite having three separate islands to administer, the Commonwealth has been able to efficiently spend its revenues.

In FY 96, CNMI’s total federal funding amounted to $44 million, much smaller than the $827 million received by Guam, according to PIO citing a report by the federal government.

“The CNMI receives one of lowest per capita federal funding ratios of any insular area or state in the U.S. system,” it explained. It is also the only area that “has to match federal CIP money dollar-for-dollar as a matter of federal policy.”

Under the Guerra-Manglona Agreement forged in 1992, the Commonwealth agreed to find matching funds for the $11 million provided under the Capital Improvement Projects/Covenant Section 702. The accord covers federal assistance between 1996 to 2002.

Meanwhile, a statement from the Office of Insular Affairs described the recent meeting between federal officials and governors from four islands a “success.”

Mr. Tenorio attended the meeting last week under President Clinton’s Interagency Group on Insular Areas (IGIA). Governors from Guam, American Samoa and Virgin Islands were also part of the discussion held at the White House.

The meeting “was an important step which will result in issue resolution and will dramatically increased the level of participation in federal programs by U.S. territories,” said OIA Director Ferdinand Aranza in the statement.

President Clinton created the IGIA on August 9, 1999 to give guidance on policy concerning the four islands. Its creation acknowledges that complex issues concerning the insular jurisdictions constantly emerge whose resolution cuts across executive agency lines, said the statement.