Sparse attendance at public hearings to cut House size

The House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations saw “very poor attendance” at a series of public hearings on a legislative initiative seeking to reduce the number of Saipan House members from 18 to nine. All who testified supported the proposal but some of them recommended changes to the plan, the panel said.

The JGO Committee wrapped up five public hearings on House Legislative Initiative 17-4 on Wednesday night last week

Rep. Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan), chairman of the seven-member panel, said the public hearing in Tanapag, for example, saw only two people in attendance and only one of them testified in favor of HLI 17-4.

“Attendance was very poor. But like I said before, as long as I am the chair of the JGO Committee, there will be no short cuts. The public will be given a chance to be heard,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune.

The initiative’s author, Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan), said he personally wants the JGO panel to recommend the passage of his initiative, which he said did not receive any opposition at the public hearings.

“No one opposed the initiative so I am hoping that the committee will recommend its passage. But it’s also possible that the committee recommends that the full House decide on its own,” he said.

Palacios and Demapan said community members also made some recommendations to amend the initiative, such as including the Senate in the seat reductions, further reducing the House members from Saipan to as low as five, and consideration of a part-time Legislature to cut government spending and improve efficiency.

The JGO panel is expected to meet soon to discuss preparations for a written report on the public hearings and the formulation of a recommendation.

Demapan said he personally supports reducing the number of lawmakers but he is also concerned about the “one man, one vote” consideration.

Palacios said it’s the people that make constitutional changes. “So if the people vote to reduce the number of lawmakers, the court will accept that because it’s the will of the people. It’s the people that make and amend the Constitution,” he said.

He added that the sooner the House and the Legislature pass HLI 17-4, the better, so that the Commonwealth Election Commission will be able to have ample time to educate the public about the initiative.

HLI 17-4 seeks to amend Article 2, Section 4 subsections (a), (b) and (c) of the CNMI Constitution to reduce the number of Saipan members in the House of Representatives from 18 to nine.

There are currently 20 House members. Of this number, Rota and Tinian each have one.

The Senate has nine members comprising three each from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

If ratified by voters, the initiative will result in over $1 million in annual savings “by cutting the present budget by each representative’s salary of $39,500 together with their respective annual budget of $84,146. This savings of $1,112,814 would be significant in light of the current economic circumstances,” the initiative states.