Omnibus bill OK’d

Holding back-to-back sessions early last night, the Legislature finally cleared a compromise proposal on the Omnibus Labor and Business Reform Act which both houses hammered out with the Tenorio administration.

HB 12-39 now heads to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio for his signature, five months since the legislation, sponsored by Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, was introduced in the lower house as one of its key economic measures.

A bicameral conference committee met earlier yesterday prior to the special sessions to iron out differences following House’s rejection of the Senate amendment to the bill.

Its final passage was pushed late into the day as the executive branch considered the changes, while the House rounded up members to reach the required quorum of at least 10 representatives.

The Senate also scheduled its session simultaneously to approve the Omnibus bill before four of its members were to depart for an official trip to Washington D.C.

A conference committee report adopted by the two chambers stressed the importance of the legislation in revitalizing the islands’ stagnant economy as well as in ensuring that the Commonwealth maintains its control over local labor and immigration.

“We feel that this compromise bill will provide for economic revitalization, encourage business development, protect the needs of our local people and is politically realistic,” stated the report.

Key changes

Although the changes reached in the bicameral conference did not veer away much from the Senate version, three major provisions were altered in response to concerns raised by the business sector.

From the initial requirement of 30 percent ratio of U.S. citizens in the managerial and supervisory positions in garment manufacturing firm, the committee agreed to lower it to 20 percent.

Lawmakers, however, clarified that this is on top of the 20 percent ratio of locals compared with the nonresident workers of each company on the islands under existing law.

A “phase-in” period and “flexibility” will be implemented to ensure compliance with the new requirement which the bill says will take effect after 180 days from signing into law.

In addition, they removed a Senate proposal seeking to increase the cap on the number of guest workers in the apparel sector by allowing the island municipalities of Rota and Tinian to have additional 1,000 workers each for their own garment manufacturing industry.

This means that the cap will remain at 15,727 which is the figure put in place last year by the government.

The compromise bill also restricts transfer of workers in the garment sector to another industry until the completion of their pending employment contract.

Flexibility

On the proposed flexibility in meeting the $100,000 security deposit requirement for new foreign investments, the Legislature decided to narrow options to two — either through cash or a bond.

“While the old requirement of $100,000 cash was counter-productive, we felt that certain additional safeguards should be put in place when an investor satisfies this requirement using a bond,” the report said.

“By requiring that all bonds be of the sort acceptable for federal projects, and eliminating the use of letters of credit, we feel that the interests and safety of the public are protected,” it added.

While the Omnibus has become a contentious issue in the Legislature, members of the bicameral committee described yesterday’s meeting as productive with no major disagreements on how to deal with the amendments.

The original version passed by the House had included repeal of laws deemed restrictive in doing business here, such as the hiring ban imposed on guest workers under Public Law 11-6, the three-year stay limit on nonresidents and the garment cap.

During its deliberation in the upper house, most of these proposals were axed in favor of giving flexibility instead to businesses amid concerns by the administration that the bill could affect ongoing labor and immigration reforms.

Noting that compromises were drawn up in enacting the legislation, lawmakers said that they feel that “passing it is the right thing to do, and that it will be for the benefit of us all.”