Flashback – Sept. 1999-Sept. 2005

Sept. 30, 1999

Census project to create 550 jobs

At least 550 temporary jobs will be available to the local community as soon as the government starts conducting census on the population of the CNMI, the Governor’s Office said yesterday. The Governor’s Office also said the census project would provide a “major boost to the economy.” Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio signed on Monday a memorandum of agreement between the CNMI Central Statistics Division of the Department of Commerce and the Bureau of Statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce, officially starting the Census 2000 in the CNMI. The agreement calls for close to $3.5 million in U.S. federal budget, and the project is expected to be finished by fall of 2000.

Govt urged to provide local funds for anti-drug programs

Saying the CNMI should not remain dependent on federal grants, a member of the Board of Education yesterday urged the government to provide local funding for drug-free and violence-free programs in local schools. “It is our own backyard that we’re protecting, therefore, we should provide our money for that,” Tom Pangelinan said at yesterday’s meeting of the BOE fiscal committee. The federal government grants the Public School System over $300,000 per year for anti-drug programs. This amount is distributed among the CNMI’s private and public schools which have complied with the program planning requirement.

Sept. 30, 2004

Govt revenue collections reach $55.2M in Q2

Government tax collections increased to $55.2 million during the year’s second quarter, nearly $3 million higher than the total tax collections during the previous quarter. The second quarter’s total collection reflects a 4.7-percent surge from the first quarter’s collection of $52.72 million. Compared to 2003’s second quarter collection, government revenue also posted an increase from that period’s $54.58 million collection. Business Gross Receipt Tax contributed mainly to the latest figures released by the Department of Commerce, with a total of $14.13 million being collected during this year’s second quarter.

CUC extends grace period for overdue bills

Despite problems with collection of accounts receivable, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has adopted a new policy giving additional days of reprieve to customers who have overdue power bills. Under the amended electric service regulations, CUC bills will start incurring a 1-percent late charge 30 days after their due date. CUC’s current practice is to start imposing the late charge right after the bills become due. CUC chair Francisco Q. Guerrero and executive director Lorraine Babauta said in a public notice that the proposed amendments have been adopted as they were published in the Commonwealth Register last July.

Sept. 30, 2005

‘Legislature’s neglect caused budget lack’

The lack of a new budget up to today-the last day of the fiscal year-is the result of the Legislature’s neglect and not of the Babauta administration, which submitted its budget proposal six months ago, said press secretary Pete A. Callaghan. Callaghan was reacting to a statement made by Senate minority leader Pete P. Reyes. who earlier blamed the administration for its lack of ability to persuade the lawmaking body to pass a new budget. Reyes had said that the situation shows that the governor “cannot work with the Legislature.” “The administration can’t persuade the Legislature enough to let them pass the budget. There’s a lack of working relationship between the governor and the Legislature,” the senator said.

Senate OKs $30K ‘junk cars’ bill

The Senate has finally approved legislation that hopes to address the environmental hazards posed by junk cars and abandoned vehicles in the CNMI. House Bill 14-347, which seeks to appropriate $30,000 from the Department of Public Works’ Solid Waste Management Division revolving fund to pay for the removal of junk cars, was passed by Senate Wednesday last week. The transmittal letter from the Senate said the upper chamber passed the bill on final reading by a unanimous vote. It was passed without amendments. Procedure dictates that the bill will now go to the Governor’s Office for passage into law. The bill’s author, Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, called on the Senate to immediately pass the bill upon reading a front page article on Saipan Tribune about the issue last Sept. 19.