‘With delegate, NMI will save $1M a year’

The Commonwealth stands to save about $1 million a year from having a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The delegate bill, which President Bush signed into law yesterday, will shut down the office of the CNMI resident representative to Washington, D.C. The office has an annual budget of $1 million.

The expenses of the Northern Marianas delegate’s office will be shouldered by the federal government. The costs include the delegate’s salary, currently at $169,300 a year.

The U.S. government will also pay for the biennial elections for the delegate, to be held in even-numbered years. All CNMI elections now take place in odd-numbered years. A delegate election is expected to cost about $25,000.

The first such election is scheduled for this November, to coincide with the U.S. presidential elections.

“The CNMI will definitely save a lot of money from the delegate bill,” Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio has said. “But of course, this is not about the money, it’s about having a voice in the U.S. Congress. Right now, we are the only U.S. citizens not represented in Congress. When the delegate bill becomes law, we are going to be the last of U.S. citizens to be provided an opportunity to be heard.”

The new law includes provisions to grant the Northern Marianas representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. It would also have Washington take over labor and immigration controls in the Commonwealth.

Under the measure, Northern Marianas will have a representative with limited voting powers to the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, all U.S. possessions except the CNMI have a delegate in the House.

The CNMI delegate will assume office on the third day of January after the election.

To be eligible, a candidate must be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen and CNMI resident for at least seven years before the election, and a qualified CNMI voter on the date of the election. A candidate for CNMI delegate must not be running for any other office.

The CNMI delegate will receive the same compensation, allowances, and benefits as a member of the House of Representatives. Each member of Congress is paid almost $170,000 a year.

Similar to House members and other delegates, the CNMI delegate will be elected to Congress every two years. He can serve on committees, as well as vote on legislation at the committee level. But floor voting will not be permitted.