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Budget hearings to continue this week
After the cancellation of a budget hearing and a House session last week due to Typhoon Dolphin, the Legislature will continue to conduct the hearings this week.
Budget hearings have already been done for the Department of Public Works, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Saipan Mayor’s Office, and the Civil Service Commission.
The House Committee on Ways and Means was supposed to hold a budget hearing for the Tinian Mayor’s Office but it got canceled by the typhoon.
According to its calendar, the committee is set to hold hearings for the Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the Marianas Visitors Authority today, and the Department of Corrections and the Judiciary on Thursday.
Rep. Antonio Sablan (Ind-Saipan), who chairs the committee, earlier said the “bigger” government agencies will have first crack on the budget hearings.
It will be a juggling act for lawmakers, as the funding requests of the departments exceed the proposed budget of $145.8 million by $38.7 million.
Sablan said this means not all government departments will get the exact budget that they asked for.
Gov. Eloy S. Inos submitted a budget proposal of $145.8 million to the Legislature, representing an increase of $11.5 million, or 8.55 percent, from the budget of the previous fiscal year.
After adjusting for debt service appropriations, earmarked funds, and other legal obligations, the net resources available for general appropriation is $145.82 million.
The budget was derived from the gross budgetary resources reported by the Secretary of Finance for fiscal year 2016 at $183.55 million.
