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‘Gov’t travel, per diem policy needs overhaul’
Jude Hofschneider
Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) finds that the CNMI government travel and per diem policy needs an overhaul so that it is commensurate with current travel costs. In line with his, Hofschneider has introduced a bill that seeks to provide for a uniform, reasonable, and fair travel policy within and outside the CNMI.
The senator states in Senate Bill 23-39 that the CNMI’s current travel policy imposes a burden on the traveler because the current highest per diem amount is only enough to cover the lodging expense in places like California, Washington D.C., Japan, and Honolulu, to name a few.
He said S. B. 23-39 sets reasonable policies and per diem rates for official government travel within and outside the CNMI, to include all agencies in the Commonwealth, whether the agency is locally or federally funded.
Under the legislation, the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. and the Commonwealth Economic Development Authority is included in the reenactment of a statute on restrictions on agencies and government official travel within and outside of the CNMI.
Right now, only 80% of the total per diem for the scheduled travel duration is advanced, and the remaining 20% is paid after the travel has been completed and the required travel documents are submitted. Hofschneider said this is unfair to the traveler because the funds are needed during the travel, not after.
He noted that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., the Judiciary, the Northern Marianas College, NMHC, CEDA, and the Public School System, have adopted the federal per diem rates in part or in whole.
Although the Marianas Public Land Trust does not follow the federal per diem rate, Hofschneider said it has a per diem rate of $450 per day for Washington, D.C. while the federal rate is a maximum of $332.
Hofschneider said the variances in the per diem rates are unfair because some agencies provide unreasonably high per diem rates while others provide insufficient rates to cover the high costs of certain destinations.
