Mayors cite Legislature’s redundant function

It is about time that the Legislature look seriously at its budgeting and functions as it duplicates even the work carried out by municipal governments, said the mayors of Saipan and the Northern Islands, commenting on the proposed initiative calling for a part-time Legislature.

Saipan mayor Juan B. Tudela, who favors the budget reduction of the Legislature to ensure more funding for essential services, said that while other government agencies have been implementing austerity measures since 1997, the Legislature’s budget and staffing drastically increased rather than decreased.

Today, he said, the 14th Legislature employs 170 employees: 90 for the House of Representatives and 80 for the Senate.

The Legislature was much leaner years back, he indicated.

Interestingly, according to Borja, “many of these employees function as ‘community workers,’ which is really a function of the municipal government rather than a legislative function.”

In fact, he said that the community workers of the Office of the Mayor “frequently find themselves out in the field working side-by-side with community workers of the Legislature.”

He said the passage of House Legislative Initiative 14-8, or the proposed part-time Legislature, would save the government millions of dollars that could be used for the delivery of public services and education.

Borja said the initiative would compel the legislative branch to focus on its fundamental job: enacting laws and determining key government policies.

“I humbly urge the 14th Legislature to do the right thing and let the people of the CNMI decide [on] this important issue,” said Borja.

If passed by both chambers, the initiative would be placed on the ballot for people to vote on during the general elections next year.

Northern Islands mayor Valentin Taisakan said that over the years, the functions of the Legislature “seem to have expanded to areas that really should be within the responsibilities of the Executive Branch at both state and local levels of government.”

“While members of the Legislature participate in activities outside of lawmaking functions, it is duplicating the responsibilities of the four municipal governments,” he said.

Taisakan said it may not necessarily be the fault of the Legislature, given the cultural norm in the community. “However, this has to change so that our limited government resources can be polled together so that we can be more responsive and accountable to our community needs and expectations,” he said.

HLI 14-8 aims to junk the members’ salary currently set at $39,300 each and cut their operational budget from $155,000 to $50,000. From the annual budget of $5.2 million, the bill aims to reduce the legislative funding to $2 million.

The initiative entitles members of the Legislature to find work in government and in the private sector—a sensitive area that is feared to breed irregularities and corrupt practices arising from a possible conflict of interest.

Members of the community have called on the House of Representatives to further refine the proposal to ensure that it achieves its desired goal: to run the Legislature at a more cost-effective manner.

The House of Representatives consists of 18 members while the Senate has nine members.