Kilili: While NMI got least ARRA money, it got most per capita

Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) said yesterday that while the CNMI has been awarded the least amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money among 50 U.S. states and five U.S. territories, it actually gets the most per capita because of its small population.

“The U.S. national average for ARRA money is $899 per capita. The CNMI gets over $2,200 per capita,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.

Federal tracking agency recovery.gov data shows that the CNMI has been awarded over $119 million in ARRA money from Feb. 17, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2011.

This is the least amount received among territories, including American Samoa, which has been awarded over $208 million and with a population estimate of 55,519 in 2010.

Among states, ARRA awards range from over $662 million in Wyoming to over $34 billion in California as of Sept. 30, recovery.gov data shows.

“So we’re successful in getting $2,200 or something, how can I complain? Rather than complain, I want to say thank you to the generosity of American taxpayers,” Sablan said. The ARRA bill was one of the first pieces of legislation that Sablan supported when he was first elected into office.

If not for ARRA money since 2009, Rep. Ray Tebuteb (R-Saipan) believes the CNMI would have fared worse than it already has.

“The CNMI government has a declining collection. Can you imagine if there’s no ARRA money? It could have been worse. In my opinion, ARRA helped the CNMI in providing essential services such as public health, public safety, and education,” he said.

Tebuteb said the Legislature alone got energy-efficient lights and air-conditioning units because of ARRA money. “But I’d say some government agencies could have availed more of ARRA money,” he added.

Of the total $119 million in ARRA money awarded to the CNMI as of Sept. 30, 2011, $42 million or 35 percent has yet to be spent.

Most or over $48 million that’s already spent went to education, followed by energy/environment at over $38 million, transportation at over $15 million, over $3 million for infrastructure.

The rest went to family, public safety, science, housing, job training and health programs and services in the CNMI, whose government budget for fiscal year 2012, for example, is only $102 million.