On my vote on the budget veto override

“I will uphold and defend the Constitution…” is part of the oath I took when I was sworn in as a police officer. It was also the same oath I took when I was sworn in as an attorney. And recently, it was the same oath I took when I was sworn in as a Representative of the 16th House of Representatives, Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature.

The recently vetoed budget bill contains a section that requires that any hiring must be approved by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. Those of us who had issue with this particular section shared with the leadership that if the governor raised the constitutional issue of separation of powers and vetoed the budget bill, we would respectfully have to vote “no” on the veto override.

In the 15th Legislature, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial reprogrammed monies from the Legislature and Judiciary. Rep. Stanley Torres sued Governor Fitial for violating the Constitution’s separation of powers provision. Rep. Stanley Torres won.

If Governor Fitial deemed that requiring the Speaker and President’s approval for hiring personnel was merely an administrative function and did not rise to a constitutional violation, then my vote would have been different. Instead, Governor Fitial objected to having the Speaker and President cross over into the Executive and Judicial branches by requiring approval prior to any hiring. He invoked the same constitutional protection of separation of powers as Rep. Stanley Torres. For this reason, I voted no on the override.

During the House session when the vote was taken to override the governor’s veto of the budget bill, I did not grandstand. I did not bicker. I did not showboat. I did not play to the media. I did not slander my colleagues. I never called anyone names to their faces. Nor did I use fake names in blogs to slander their reputation. During the 2007 campaign season, I was on a radio talk show when I was asked if I would blindly follow the party. I replied that I worked hard for my master’s degree in Public Administration and law degree; and I was admitted to practice in the CNMI court and federal courts including the United States Supreme Court. I will listen and receive input from people, but I will not follow blindly. I will not surrender my judgment to independently make decisions.

It is that simple. I voted “no” on the veto override because Governor Fitial invoked the constitutional protection of separation of powers between the three co-equal branches of the CNMI government. It is not scandalous. It is not glamorous. It does not make headlines. It is simply a matter of upholding and defending the Constitution.