Previous Story
House passes bill for payment of reservists
|
Posted on Oct 14 2004
The House of Representatives passed this week a bill that entitles CNMI reservists in active duty to receive one-half of their salary once their military and accrued annual leave are exhausted.
The lawmakers said that House Bill 14-218, introduced by Rep. Claudio Norita, provides “a sense of security for reservists who have recently been called upon to serve our country and for their family members.”
The bill covers both government and private sector-employed reservists.
The measure provides that the CNMI government shall pay one-half the salary of the employees/reservists, provided that they are on active duty for a continuous period of one year.
The private employers, meantime, have the option to pay one-half the salary of the employee/reservists once their military or accrued vacation leave are exhausted “in lieu of the payment of the employers’ business gross receipts tax.”
The bill also requires that recipients must be on active duty for one year.
It further provides that the waived BGRT payment shall not exceed 50 percent of the payment made to the affected employees as an offset.
The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Jesus SN. Lizama, Crispin Ogo, and Ray Yumul, who is a member of the deployed unit.
The CNMI reservists who are on training for deployment to Iraq belong to the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infrantry Division of the U.S. Armed Forces.
