Senate budget plan drops ban on funding Fitial lawsuit

The Senate has dropped a provision in the budget that bars the governor from using taxpayers’ money to fund the lawsuit he had filed against the U.S. government to block immigration federalization, saying the provision is unnecessary.

The Senate on Friday approved a 53-page substitute budget bill that appropriates $156.7 million of projected revenue for central government operations during fiscal year 2009. The Senate-passed version of the budget includes a host of changes to the one previously passed by the House of Representatives.

One of the major changes is the removal of the prohibition on the use of public funds for the governor’s controversial lawsuit. Sen. Maria Frica T. Pangelinan, author of the substitute bill and chairwoman of the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee, said the provision is no longer needed because the Senate’s version specifies where every government penny should go.

Unlike the House version, which gives Gov. Benigno R. Fitial free rein to decide how to spend the $75 million proposed budget for the Executive Branch, the Senate-passed bill provides itemized appropriations for the agencies under the governor’s wing.

“You could include language to prevent the governor from using any money on the lawsuit, but it wouldn’t make any difference. We have a balanced budget; we laid out where every dollar should go,” Pangelinan said in an interview yesterday.

She also noted that the governor filed the lawsuit before the previous fiscal year ended last month. “It is possible he already obligated money for that purpose from the FY2008 budget,” she said.

Another major change in Senate-passed version is the inclusion of measures designed to cut the government’s personnel costs. Under the bill, government offices will be closed every other Friday from March 6, 2009, through Sept. 18, 2009—a total of 10 “austerity Fridays.” In addition, a no-work-no-pay policy will be applied on the 13 remaining legal holidays within FY2009.

The Senate budget reduces the cap for full time workers the government can employ. The governor’s budget proposal called for 4,100 employees, and the Senate approved only 3,736. Pangelinan said the Senate’s figure more accurately reflects the actual number of government employees.

The Upper House rejects the governor’s plan to lay off nearly 400 workers. Instead, it proposes to freeze government hiring and use attrition as a means to gradually reduce the government payroll.

Other highlights of the Senate-approved budget include:

Requiring the governor to submit for legislative appropriation any “cover-over” tax recoveries from the U.S. government;

Prohibiting lawsuits between local government entities;

Specifying appropriation for utility costs and protecting them from reprogramming to ensure the government can pay the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.;

Cutting the public auditor’s fee from 1 percent to 0.75 percent of each agency’s budget. The reduced amount is still enough to cover OPA’s $2.5 million funding request;

Reserving $130,000 for any new positions filled between April 1—when the governor’s budget was submitted—and Oct. 1, and not included in the governor’s proposal and in the bill;

Calling for a cost-benefit benefit analysis and performance outcomes of government agencies and programs; and

Setting up reporting requirements to gather information on continuing obligation such as court judgments against the government and unpaid employee compensation.

The budget currently under deliberation is for the 2009 fiscal year, which covers the period from Oct. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009.

If the House approves the Senate-passed version, the bill will head to the governor for his signature and then become law. If the House rejects it, a joint committee of House and Senate members will be formed to draft a budget that is acceptable to both houses.