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House votes to expand municipal council powers
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Posted on Dec 21 2004
The House of Representatives has passed a proposed legislation that would grant municipal councils the power to enact local laws.
Authored by Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, House Legislative Initiative 14-04 seeks to amend Article VI of the CNMI Constitution to give equal power to each municipality and to empower municipal governments to pass local laws.
The initiative needs the approval of the Senate and Gov. Juan N. Babauta before it can be placed on the ballot for voters’ consideration in the next general election.
The House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations, which recommended passage of the measure, recalled that several attempts had been made to give municipal governments legislative power.
House Legislative Initiatives 12-13, 13-01, and 13-09 have all failed to clear both the House and the Senate.
The committee said that because the previous measures were not enacted, there remain uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the legal roles of the municipal governments.
“[Since] becoming a Commonwealth, the population of the Northern Mariana Islands has grown and will continue to grow, thereby raising possibly numerous and complex issues of local concerns affecting these municipalities,” the committee said. “As such, [we believe] that certain issues of municipal concerns are better left to each municipal government to administer.”
The committee further said decentralizing the delivery of public service would make the programs more efficient and more locally oriented. The group added that this could be particularly advantageous in times of natural disasters or calamities when the impact may differ for each municipality.
“The mayors of each chartered municipal government can readily respond, move or allocate resources to vital public services when circumstances warrant,” the committee said.
H.L.I. 14-04 proposes to fund $1.2 million annually for the operations of the three chartered municipal governments. The $1.2 million will be divided equally among the three islands.
