Teno still weighing business reform proposal

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has not put his foot down on the comprehensive labor and business reform legislation now pending with the Senate.

He told reporters yesterday that if his concerns on the measure were addressed by lawmakers, he would review it and consider signing it into law. He declined to disclose his reservations on the proposal offered by House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial.

Business leaders earlier pressed Mr. Tenorio to support House Bill 12-39 or the Omnibus Labor and Business Reform Act which they maintained will help pull out the Northern Marianas from economic distress.

The chief executive had expressed his concerns on the measure during a meeting with the Saipan Chamber of Commerce last Thursday as he noted its impact on a pending bill in the U.S. Senate which seeks to extend federal immigration laws to the CNMI.

The Omnibus bill, one of the measures passed by the House of Representatives aimed at boosting the island’s economy, will repeal some of the laws put in place by the Tenorio administration in the past two years that were intended to appease Washington against federal takeover of the Commonwealth’s labor and immigration standards.

Chief among these are the moratorium on the hiring of guest workers and the three-year stay limit imposed on nonresidents currently employed in all industries in the CNMI.

“There are certain sections in the bill where I am in favor and there are other sections that I am concerned of,” Mr. Tenorio told in an interview with reporters.

“I am awaiting for the [Senate’s] action so I cannot comment on which sections of the bill are my concerns because the Senate has yet acted on it,” he added.

Asked if these concerns are addressed by the Legislature, the governor said there is a chance that he would be considering it for signing into law. “Definitely, I will certainly look at it,” he said.

During the Chamber meeting, members reiterated to the governor the need to ease the difficulty in getting additional workforce, specifically highly-skilled technicians for their businesses as a result of the moratorium law. They also expressed dismay that the Senate is not keen on supporting the House proposal.

However, some members of the U.S. Congress, including House Resources Committee chair Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), have backed these reform measures which Mr. Fitial and the rest of the House leadership presented during their visit to Washington D.C. last month.