Legislature approves NMC hiring extension

The bill extending the authority of Northern Marianas College to hire nonresident staff has passed the Legislature and is now up for the governor’s signature. The bill needs to be signed on or before Friday this week if it is to become effective.

Based on the existing law, all government offices would lose their authority to hire nonresident workers by Sept. 30, 2005. Affected government offices are the departments of Public Health, Commerce, Public Works, Commonwealth Utilities Corp., Office of the Public Auditor, and NMC.

OPA had been authorized by the Legislature earlier to keep its lone nonresident accountant.

The Senate also passed a bill, Senate Bill 14-98, last week, which gives DPH five more years to hire nonresident physicians and dentists and two years for certain health professionals. It gives DPW one year; Commerce, two years; and CUC Rota and Tinian, two years.

Meantime, H.B. 14-329, which was authored by Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, provides a five-year exemption to NMC to keep its nonresident workers.

H.B. 14-329 aims to amend 3 CMC section 4434 to extend the hiring of nonresident workers at the college and to mandate a manpower training and educational plan.

The bill, likewise, aims to mandate the college to compile and distribute lists of its graduates upon each graduation semester to government entities and interested businesses “to bridge the gap between NMC graduates and viable employment within the CNMI.”

NMC currently employs six nonresident workers: two Japanese language instructors, two nursing instructors, and two scientists for NMC- Cooperative Research Education and Extension Services.

Quitugua’s Education Committee earlier cited that for 10 years, NMC failed to develop and implement a comprehensive local workforce education and training plan as mandated by law, resulting in its continued reliance on nonresident staff.

The lawmaker cited that Public Law 3-66 as amended includes NMC as among the government agencies exempted from the hiring restriction.

In 1996, P.L. 10-4 was enacted extending the sunset provision for other agencies with expiration dates. NMC was given a deadline of Sept. 30, 2000.

The law strictly mandates the exempt agencies “to actively work toward phasing out the reliance on nonresident workers,” requiring them to develop a comprehensive manpower training and education plan and submit annual progress reports to the Legislature.

In 2000, P.L. 12-34 was enacted extending NMC’s exemption to September 2005. This law specifically provides that it is the “intent of the Legislature that no further extensions of these exemptions occur for any reason.”

The new six-year extension, Quitugua said, was granted to ensure that NMC could modify its manpower training and education plan to include but is not limited to measurable goals and objectives, timeliness, completion dates, budget requirement, and responsible person or persons to carry out the plan.

“The statute expresses that ‘failure of the government’s hiring authority to comply with this provision shall be grounds to suspend the privilege of hiring nonresident workers by non-complying entity,’ and this provision shall be enforced,” said Quitugua.