Stiff penalties for business without license

The House of Representatives yesterday passed a measure that will criminalize operation of a business without government license, punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment of not more than five years in a bid to deter illegal establishments on the island.

Under existing laws, violation of the requirement carries only administrative remedy which is inadequate in encouraging business owners, especially small-time, to obtain the proper license from the Department of Commerce.

A report by the House Committee on Judicial and Government Operations, chaired by Rep. Dino M. Jones, stressed imposing severe penalties will safeguard the public from unscrupulous vendors who set up shops without a license.

“Doing business without a license should be a crime, not simply an administrative issue,” the committee said. “Those who do will be punished accordingly.”

Offered by Rep. David M. Apatang, House Bill 12-45 seeks to amend Public Law 11-73 by making the violation a felony offense with penalties of up to $50,000 fine and/or the five-year jail sentence.

The legislation is similar to a bill he filed last year, but was not passed by the House. He said then that it was intended to enforce regulations requiring government license on any business venture in the CNMI as he noted that such requirement has oftentimes been violated due to absence of penalty provisions.

The commerce department is the sole authority in issuing license, but it does not have any enforcement powers to apprehend business owners violating Commonwealth laws.

Mr. Apatang sought severe punishment in the wake of the proliferation of prepaid telephone cards sold in stores which are not licensed under CNMI regulations as well as remittance service centers.

HB 12-45 now heads to the Senate for voting.
Meanwhile, the House also passed a measure that will exclude cosmetic surgeries as part of the medical benefits provided by companies to their nonresident workers.

Sponsored by Mr. Jones, HB 12-106 seeks to clarify ambiguity in the provisions of the Nonresident Workers Act that require employers to pay for their foreign employees’ medical costs.

“We feel, however that this requirement should not be unlimited. We never intended for employers to be responsible for medically unnecessary cosmetic surgeries for their workers,” the JGO said in endorsing the legislation which is now up for voting in the upper house.

Other measures acted by the House during its special session yesterday were:

– SB 12-24, setting forth qualifications of the CNMI’s Attorney General (Senate will vote on House amendments);

– SB 12-50, protection, conservation and prohibition against the hunting of the Commonwealth Bird Tottot (for governor’s action);

– HR 12-24, requesting Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation to take action on the offer made by Rep. Stanley T. Torres in 1990 for CUC to construct water catchment on his land in Kanat Tabla;

– HR 12-43, commemorating the success of the Millennium 2000 traditional canoe voyage from the atolls of Polowat and Satawal in Yap to Tanapag, Saipan; and

– HR 12-45, thanking Hideo Kato for 32 years of bringing Japanese and CNMI students together through annual visits of the Wakai Neko No Kai Ocean University.