Flashback September 29, 1999

[B]September 29, 1999

Teno, lawmakers decide to scrap FY 2000 budget
[/B] Unable to reach consensus as to which departments and agencies should suffer budget cuts, the Legislature and the administration decided yesterday not to pass the spending proposal for FY 2000, while granting Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio greater flexibility in managing government resources. This means that the government will operate under the same spending limit approved last year, but with restrictions to ensure departments and agencies do not exceed their appropriations.

[B]DOLI: Number of guest workers drop[/B]

The CNMI government has carried out reforms to reduce the number of overstaying aliens and curb the abuse of guest workers in Northern Marianas, according to Labor and Immigration Secretary Mark D. Zachares. In a letter to U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, chairman of the Resources Committee, DOLI chief debunked claims by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service General Counsel Bo Cooper that majority of the nonresident workers are “temporarily” employed under indentured contracts.

[B]Teno gives nod to $60-M bond float[/B]

Governor Pedro P. Tenorio signed into law yesterday a bill which authorizes the Commonwealth Development Authority to float $60 million worth of bonds that would generate the local matching funds for capital improvement projects listed in the 702 CIP Plan. House Bill 11-435, entitled Capital Improvement Project Bond Authorization Act and introduced by Rep. Karl T. Reyes, became Public Law 11-102.

[B]September 29, 2000

OPA TELLS GOV’T: Fight corruption[/B]

The CNMI government needs extra effort to fight graft and corruption in public service which Public Auditor Leo LaMotte said is quite rampant in the Northern Marianas and should be addressed immediately. “The level of corruption in the Northern Marianas is quite intolerable although there is as much corruption in the CNMI as there is in other countries throughout the world,” Mr. LaMotte said in an interview yesterday.

[B]NMIRF seeks $6-M funding to settle government’s unpaid bills[/B]

The Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund is seeking a $6 million funding from the Legislature to wipe out the outstanding debt of the government’s health insurance program and hire a review utilization firm. Health providers from the U.S. mainland and Hawaii have demanded $5 million to settle the unpaid billings of the government health insurance, according to Vicente Camacho, board chair of the NMIRF.

[B]Separate balloting for gov., lt. gov. introduced in House[/B]

A legislative initiative has been introduced in the House of Representatives that will seek separate voting for governor and lieutenant governor in what its sponsor said is an effort to encourage leadership in the government. Article III Section 4 of the NMI Constitution provides joint election of the two top public officials under one ticket similar to that in the United States.

[B]September 29,2002

Business earnings down 16 percent[/B]

Businesses in the Northern Marianas continue to reel from the financial affliction caused by the mammoth drop in visitor arrivals since 1998, giving birth to a historic four-year-old economic crisis in the Commonwealth. Records obtained from the CNMI Department of Finance revealed that Business Gross Revenue dropped 16.5 percent during the first semester of the financial year 2002 compared with the tally during the same period last year.

[B]Elvis rocks Saipan[/B]

The King of Rock ‘N Roll, Elvis Presley, has been dead 25 years but his legacy lives on through the thousands of impersonators who have immemorialized his voice, songs, signature moves and essentially, his 42-year existence. One such impersonator, or as he prefers to call it, illusionist, is James Primacio, Hard Rock Café-Guam’s sole Elvis act.