House passes 3 PSS funding bills

It was all worth it for Public School System officials and staff who came in full force at the House of Representatives yesterday, after lawmakers ended up passing three pro-PSS measures, including a $50 million piecemeal budget for fiscal year 2006, albeit on first reading.

The House passed on first reading House Bill 14-371, appropriating $50 million to PSS for Fiscal Year 2006, which is $13.8 million more than the PSS current budget.

In yesterday’s deliberation, lawmakers said that the measure will not pass final reading until the House and the Senate pass the House Concurrent Resolution, which identifies available resources for FY 2006.

H.B. 14-371, authored by Rep. David Apatang, was approved by all 15 House members present in yesterday afternoon’s session.

The House also approved H.B. 14-370, which aims to provide PSS with additional funding to purchase textbooks. The bill, authored by House Education Committee chair Justo Quitugua, mandates that the 1 percent Public Auditor’s fee that is annually deducted from PSS shall be returned for the purchase of books.

“The PSS is exempt from this provision provided that 2 percent of its total fiscal year appropriation is used to purchase textbooks,” said Quitugua. He said this would solve the lingering textbook shortage problem in public schools.

Another measure, H.B. 14- 369, which aims to exempt PSS from paying the increased Retirement Fund contribution rate—from 24 percent to 36 percent—for five years passed the lower chamber.

This after the NMI Retirement Fund denied the PSS request for exemption from the rate increase beginning fiscal year 2006. The Fund earlier said that it cannot waive such an increase because it is mandatory and it also faces the same financial difficulties as PSS.

PSS, meantime, said that it should get the exemption because it has been paying its dues on time. It said the rate increase was made primarily due to the central government’s failure to settle its outstanding debt of some $80 million in employer contributions.

Present in yesterday’s House session were top PSS officials led by Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos and her deputies, Board of Education chair Roman C. Benavente, principals, and program managers.

PSS’ $50 million budget request is the same funding submission by the Babauta administration. The administration earlier said that if the Legislature is unable to pass a new budget for the next fiscal year, it would approve a piecemeal budget for PSS.