Babauta threatens veto if PSS’ budget is not raised

Gov. Juan N. Babauta is standing pat in his position to veto any budget bill if his proposal to allocate $42 million to the Public School System is not granted.

Babauta said he may reconsider, though, if the approved funding for PSS “is anything closer” to the original request. This would mean the PSS having a minimum funding at $40 million to $42 million.

“My position remains the same. What I was asking them [Legislature] was to bring the PSS funding to a modest level. They know that I’d veto it if PSS funding is not restored,” he said.

Earlier, Babauta said that the House-approved budget for PSS in 2005 is $3 million less than the administration’s budget for schools.

The administration had submitted a $41.9-million funding proposal for PSS. The Senate, however, further reduced it to $36 million.

The conference committee tackling the 2005 budget reportedly agreed to put the PSS budget at $38 million. Under the continuing resolution, the PSS receives a $37.2 million budget.

The joint panel report has yet to be adopted by both chambers of the Legislature.

Babauta, in his recent letter to the Legislature, said that when he came into office in the midst of a budgetary meltdown, the one area of funding he refused to cut was the PSS budget.

“I still feel that providing our children with quality education has to be our first priority. Economic development, public safety, health are all benefited by having a well-educated citizenry,” Babauta said.

He said local funding for education has dropped 28 percent since reaching a high of $4,553 per student in 1997. Last year, the spending was only $3,274 per student.

Babauta’s FY 2005 budget would provide for $3,586 per student, which, he said, is “a modest first step” toward bringing school funding back to adequate levels.

Babauta had also requested the Senate to restore the budget cuts made on the proposed funding level for the Marianas Visitors Authority, Public Health, Public Safety, and utilities.

The House cut the MVA budget to $4 million from over $5 million and utilities to $4 million from $5 million.

The Senate-approved budget, which the joint panel has reportedly adopted, keeps the agencies’ funding at the current level.

The administration requested $41.2 million for DPH, $16.1 million for Public Safety, $8.5 million for utilities, and $6.2 million for MVA.

The conference committee, meantime, agreed to adopt the Senate-approved funding level at $218 million for FY 2005, in consideration of an additional $5.1 million in projected revenues. The House passed a $212.7 million budget package.

The panel chose to use the additional resources for other items: $1 million for Rota and Tinian retroactive pay and $4.1 million for outstanding within-grade increase for government employees.