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Govt looking at $134M budget for fiscal 2016
Gov. Eloy S. Inos will be submitting a $134-million government budget for fiscal year 2016 to the Legislature on April 1—the same amount as last year’s.
Press secretary Ivan Blanco said the draft budget proposal is now ready for transmittal.
He confirmed that Inos will be submitting the budget on April 1, as mandated by law. It will cover government operations from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016.
“We have yet to determine where to allocate the budget surplus we had last year. But this will be allocated somewhere,” Blanco added.
He did not divulge any more details of the budget.
The government budget was discussed about two weeks ago in a leadership meeting Inos initiated with members of the Legislature on Capital Hill.
Rep. Glenn Maratita (R-Saipan) earlier said the governor is asking for “cooperation” with lawmakers on various issues including the government budget for next year. He earlier said there might be a “slight” difference in the budget for 2016 compared to 2015.
The government’s budget in fiscal 2012 was $102 million, which went up to $135.79 million in 2014 as a result of an approved supplemental budget of over $12 million.
The 2015 budget was slightly lower at $134 million.
‘Busy schedule’
Blanco, meanwhile, said the governor is swamped with work. He added that Inos “is fine” but has a busy schedule in the last few weeks.
Aside from budget concerns, the governor is also set to review the recently approved casino regulations, which is now with Attorney General Edward Manibusan, Blanco said.
On top of this, the governor is also looking at a number of pending government appointments.
Questions on the governor’s health have resurfaced recently. Inos was not able to attend an important conference in the U.S. mainland, sending instead Lt. Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres to represent the CNMI.
