House session pushed back to Thursday

Discussions on the fuel surcharge fee at the House of Representatives will resume in tomorrow’s session.

The House leadership said yesterday that the session, which was originally set on Monday and reset for today, will have to be pushed back to tomorrow at 10am.

Leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr. said lawmakers will attend a funeral today.

Meantime, House minority bloc spokesman Rep. Ray Tebuteb said his group is ready to sit down with other members to resolve the fuel surcharge concerns.

“The issue at hand is the fuel surcharge. There seems to be disagreements but we hope we can finish it soon,” said Tebuteb.

House minority leader Arnold I. Palacios said he hopes that tomorrow’s schedule would not be pushed back further.

“I hope tomorrow’s session will materialize,” he said.

House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial called for a recess last Thursday during deliberations on Palacios’ bill, which aims to subsidize up to $70 the surcharge fee being paid by each household in the CNMI. The bill proposes to do this by increasing the poker licensure fee by $4,000. It cites 1,500 poker machines that can be tapped for this purpose.

During the session, Fitial inquired whether Palacios had consulted with the poker industry on the matter. Palacios said the industry’s position would be a clear “no” to his bill.

In an interview yesterday, Palacios said that his bill calls for “political will.”

“It’s a sensitive issue but that’s a choice we have to make. For now, it’s the only clear way to relieve the low-income and moderate-income families from the fuel surcharge,” said Palacios.

Palacios’ proposal is embodied in House Bill 14-366.

Last week, the House unanimously passed House Bill 14-360, which aims to appropriate $10 million in fiscal year 2005 to reimburse people for their fuel surcharge payments. The bill, authored by Rep. David Apatang, does not identify a particular source of funds.

Rep. Jesus Attao has also introduced House Bill 14-365, which aims to earmark .5 percent of certain taxes for the fuel surcharge payment.

In particular, it wants to get .5 percent from the income tax, excise tax, miscellaneous tax and license fees, amusement machine tax, business license fees, charges for services and revenues—to pay for the fuel surcharge.

Another bill, House Bill 14-362, authored by Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez, is pending final reading at the House. Villagomez’s bill seeks to increase CUC’s electricity rates, repeal the fuel surcharge, and defer the $45 million outstanding loan of CUC with the Commonwealth Development Authority.

CUC expects to collect $12 million to $14 million a year from the existing 3.5 cents fuel surcharge per kilowatt hour.