FLASHBACK – Jan. 23, 2012

PSS bats for 89% E-rate discount[/B]

The Public School System is requesting the US Schools and Libraries Division for an 89 percent telecommunications discount under its new E-rate application package.

In filing for a fresh E-rate discount, PSS hopes to secure this year access to additional funds that would make possible the establishment of a local area network to electronically connect all schools in the CNMI. PSS E-rate coordinator Nic Sablan said yesterday the increase in the percentage discount for 2001 is due to the high turnout of the E-rate surveys conducted on CNMI students eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program, as well as other poverty programs.

Citing the need to address the growing labor market, the Public School System yesterday revised its Vocational Education Clustered Program to redefine the needs of the Commonwealth labor force. Late last year, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio signed into law House Bill 12-285 which extends the privilege of nonresident workers with special skills and qualifications to occupy hard-to-fill vacant positions within the CNMI government. The law aims to alleviate the critical situation currently facing the Commonwealth Health Center as well as other departments and agencies which rely on nonresident workers for certain hard-to-fill positions.

Home loan program reaches out to low-income families[/B]

With already six clients availing of more than half-a-million dollars in home financing under the Home Loan Guaranteed Program, the Bank of Hawaii is taking the lead in giving low-to-moderate income-earners the chance to build their very own dream homes. As of January 18 this year, Rep. William S. Torres said the Bank of Hawaii has already granted a total of $623,500 in home financing loans since the US Department of Agriculture approved the Home Loan Guaranteed Program for the bank in July 2000. “The Bank of Hawaii received approval from the USDA to approve up to $1 million in guaranteed loans in July 2000 but the program was only fully implemented sometime in August last year due to the changing fiscal year cycle of the USDA. Since then, the bank has already served six clients and more are being scrutinized,” said Torres.

Saipan’s apparel industry spokesperson, Richard A. Pierce, recently asked the CNMI’s new administration leaders to be cognizant of their industry’s declining ability to compete in the world’s apparel marketplace. Pierce, who is also currently president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, asked for the government’s assistance in allowing foreign-owned companies here to continue to provide much needed revenue and jobs. In messages delivered during the inauguration events, and at the Saipan Chamber of Commerce installation ceremonies, Pierce asked CNMI Gov. Juan N. Babauta and House Speaker Heinz Hofschneider to consider economic relief for the Saipan factories that are finding it harder to compete for orders from customers in the United States.

CNMI gets some $2M for home ownership program[/B]

The CNMI received some $1.9 million federal grant for local housing ownership and repair assistance program. This came following the approval of the CNMI’s 2003 Action Plan submitted earlier to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development director Mark A. Chandler, in a recent letter to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, said the grant would ensure the formulation of stronger partnerships throughout the CNMI.

A survey has shown that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’ medical benefits to employees are “significantly below” the market. Fox Lawson and Associates, which CUC hired to assess and compare CUC’s pay scale with other utility firms in the region and the U.S. mainland, said in its report that CUC employees are currently paying 76 percent of their medical benefits, while employees in the market are responsible for only 27 percent. “One element of the CUC’s total compensation package that is significantly below the market is CUC’s contribution to medical benefits,” said FLA. Yet, the same report said that CUC’s lack of medical contribution “may be overshadowed by its generous retirement contribution.”