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‘Card is still best way for planned second local stimulus’
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Posted on Mar 29 2022
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said Friday that there is no final update yet from the Department of Finance about the plan to release another round of local stimulus funds using the American Rescue Plan Act funding, but he believes using debit cards to do it is still the best way forward.
In response to an inquiry about the local stimulus during a radio news briefing, Torres said he is waiting to get more reports from Finance on the financial status. He said once he gets all the information, he will start releasing information to the community about the stimulus.
Torres
As to whether the administration is planning to use debit cards similar to the issuance of the first local stimulus, the governor conceded that they had some challenges with the cards during the first stimulus but, at the end of the day, they saw a positive outcome from using the cards.
“So we are trying to close the gap of the challenges but, at the end of the day, I think the card is the best way,” he said.
The governor said with cards, one can use the stimulus for every opportunity, decision, or options, as long as the vendor’s merchant number is registered in the CNMI.
Torres earlier disclosed that the community should be expecting additional assistance and that it would be more than $500.
