‘Spare NMC from budget cuts’

The House minority bloc has warned the administration of the possibility that budget cuts may result in closure of the Northern Marianas College’s Rota and Tinian campuses.

The minority members, led by Rep. Arnold I. Palacios, said this in a resolution asking the governor to spare the college from the budget cuts being implemented against all government agencies.

According to the resolution, the administration’s budget reduction analysis proposes to cut NMC’s FY 2006 continuing resolution budget level of $8 million by 20- to 48- percent.

Antonio Muna, the governor’s special assistant for management and budget, said Friday that all agencies were facing an 18.78-percent budget reduction across the board, as a result of the decreased revenue projection and the state of emergency at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

But the House minority members maintain that NMC should be exempted from the budget reduction. Currently, the exemptions apply only to the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, Department of Public Health, Public School System, and CUC.

“NMC provides an opportunity for [less privileged] students to obtain a post-secondary education without leaving the islands. The proposed budget reduction would surely threaten the closure of NMC on Saipan but guarantee the closure of the Rota and Tinian campuses,” the resolution stated.

“Education is the key to a prosperous community and the tool that will guide us into the future. Therefore, education does not, and should not, end with the Public School System but extend to NMC and beyond,” it added.

The resolution noted that NMC’s current budget level was already insufficient to fund all of the college’s programs and services. This promoted the Legislature to provide the college with supplemental funding the past two fiscal years, in the amount of $438,000 in FY2004 and $518,000 in FY2005.

“The proposed reduction would force NMC to make drastic changes with the college’s instructional programs, which may adversely affect its accreditation status wit the [Western Association of Schools and Colleges],” the resolution said.

It was noted that NMC was presently undergoing an institutional self-study in preparation for the comprehensive site visit by WASC officials in October 2006. The proposed budget cut would threaten NMC’s fiscal status.