A 10 percent cut in salary

I am one of the legislators who voted for the Interim Fiscal Measures for FY 2008 and implement austerity Fridays and unpaid holidays along with other cost saving measures. I am informing the Director of the Legislative Bureau to reduce my salary by 10 percent, as soon as the bill becomes law. This is the same amount being imposed on government employees whose salaries are not protected by the Constitution. The protected group includes legislators, judges, the governor and lieutenant governor. The bill, in Section 6, encourages those with protected salaries to voluntarily participate in the payroll austerity program despite the separation of powers and the constitutional protection. Until such time as the Constitution is amended to change or eliminate protected salaries, volunteering to participate in a salary reduction is the only option available for these positions.

Choosing to support austerity Fridays and holidays was painful, knowing that many people and their families will be adversely impacted. Some will be forced to make painful sacrifices just to feed their families, let alone provide the healthy diet essential for children to arrive at school alert and ready to learn. Some may severely cut back on the use of power. This could start a vicious circle, spiraling through lower living standards, which affects environmental safety and nutrition, which affects health, which affects the betterment of our children through educational achievement, and ultimately affects a society’s stability. I am fighting to keep us from stepping onto the slippery slope toward social instability.

The government must continue to function and supply basic services. Public safety, health, and education are essential parts of a modern society. Operating for six months of a fiscal year with no budget was harmful. A decision had to be made to stop the fiscal hemorrhaging. Payroll is such a large percentage of the government’s costs that it had to be considered. In the end, employees will benefit more by participating in austerity holidays than in mass lay-offs.

There are less than six months left in FY2008. The governor’s proposal for FY2009 is due. I will be looking carefully for the most efficient and cost-effective ways to provide basic services while cutting costs.

Some of the government’s problems are obvious. This does not mean the solutions are simple. Making progress on reforming the government’s pension plan was extremely complex, and building support in the Legislature took time. Nor was last year’s reform the final solution, more needs to be done.

Many of the difficulties we face today are similar. The detailed work necessary to plan a solution is complex. Building consensus in the legislature to support that plan and monitoring a new law’s performance takes time.

Along with my colleagues in the Legislature, I was elected to lead. I hope so. I try. My choice to volunteer a 10 percent pay cut is my way, however small, of sharing the sacrifices being made by those who will be required to observe the austerity programs mandated by HB 16-083.

S[B]en. Maria Frica T. Pangelinan[/B] [I]16th Northern Marianas Legislature
Capital Hill, Saipan[/I]