Basa pre-files original version of CHC line of credit bill

  Rep. Ray Basa (Cov-Saipan) pre-filed anew on Thursday afternoon the original version of his $11.58 million line of credit bill for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., a few hours after meeting with CHC medical staff and Senate members who passed a substitute version of his original bill.

Basa, in an interview yesterday, said he could not accept the Senate’s substitute version of his HB 17-278 because it is not only unconstitutional for containing different subject matters but also ended up giving a line of credit that’s half of $10 million he and his co-authors originally intended.

He said he decided to pre-file HB 17-286, the original version of HB 17-278, so that when the House rejects the Senate substitute, he could readily introduce his new bill for House action and submission to the Senate.

Sen. Ralph Torres (R-Saipan), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, said yesterday that the Senate is just waiting for the House’s action on HB 17-278, SS1 and HB 17-261, SS1.

As of yesterday, Torres said the Senate will not reconsider its action on the two bills it substituted.

Basa, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said there is still no schedule for the next House session. The Senate will hold a session on March 7 at 4pm.

If it were up to him, Basa said he would like the House to reject the Senate versions of the House bills and pass his HB 17-286 instead.

When asked whether it would be a waste of time if the Senate would again substitute his HB 17-286 once it passes the House, Basa said he hopes the Senate will now have a different view.

“As I said on Thursday, the Senate’s intention to help other agencies such as CUC and PSS is noble but let’s separate these issues and come up with separate bills,” he said.

Basa’s HB 17-278 was substituted by the Senate and ended up giving a $5 million line of credit to CHC from the Marianas Public Land Trust instead of $10 million. The other $1.58 million became a loan for CHC’s electronic health information technology initiative.

The Senate wanted the other $5 million for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Of this amount, $3.5 million would be payment for the Public School System’s $3.5 million outstanding obligations to CUC and the remaining $1.5 million would be for CHC’s debt to CUC.

Senators and acting governor Eloy S. Inos said that without payments to CUC, it would cut off power to CHC and PSS. The second bill the Senate substituted intends to make up for the lost money available to CHC in the first bill.

Rep. Ray Yumul (R-Saipan), one of the co-authors of HB 17-278, said he supports the Senate version of the bill and respects Basa’s decision to pre-file the original version of the bill.

Lawmakers, Inos, and CHC medical staff met Thursday to discuss the two bills, but House and Senate members did not agree on what to do with the two measures. In that meeting, some medical staff asked lawmakers to stop micromanaging CHC and stop playing politics that delays the availability of financial help for the corporation so that it could timely pay its employee, pay its vendors, and buy medical supplies and equipment to help treat patients.