House OKs Senate changes to $11.5M spending bill

The House of Representatives has accepted the Senate’s changes to legislation that appropriates the remaining $11.5 million of the $15.5 million Casino License Renewal Fee payment for fiscal year 2019.

In a unanimous vote that was marred by some members expressing reservations, the House accepted during Tuesday’s session the Senate version of Rep. Ivan A. Blanco’s (R-Saipan) House Bill 21-78, which seeks to appropriate the remaining $11.5 million from the Casino License Renewal Fee.

The legislation now heads to Gov. Ralph DLG Torres for enactment.

It allocates $290,000 for Rota Legislative Delegation obligations to the general fund; $220,000 for the monthly subsistence allowance of 126 Rota dialysis and terminally ill patients for May through October 2019; $65,000 for the Rota interisland medical referral patients and escort stipends; $50,000 for the partial payment to Sun Palace Rota patient’s lodging costs; $15,000 for vehicle maintenance for the Rota Liaison Office on Saipan; $25,000 for the Rota Health Center; $40,000 for a new van for the Rota Medical Referral patients on Saipan; $100,000 to the Rota Gaming Casino Commission; $100,000 for the Rota Municipal Scholarship Foundation; $10,000 for the Rota Municipal Council, for equal distribution among the councilmen; and $85,000 for Rota Mayor’s Office operations.

The Rota Legislative Delegation allocations total $2 million.

The legislation further allocates $1 million to the Northern Mariana Islands Settlement Fund for the partial payment of the fiscal year 2017 payment due for a previous Settlement Agreement; $3 million to the Public School System; $1 million each to the Northern Marianas College and the Marianas Visitors Authority; $500,000 to the Commonwealth Health Care Corp.; and the remaining $4.5 million balance allocated to the outstanding payments owed to vendors for services immediately following Super Typhoon Yutu in late October 2018.

Senate changes to the legislation also included mandating the Finance secretary to submit to legislative leaders a detailed expenditure report on the distribution of the appropriated funds within 30 days of any distribution of funds within the legislation.

Rep. Edwin K. Propst (Ind-Saipan) noted during discussions on this particular section of the bill that the reporting requirement is too vague, since the House substitute version of the legislation listed a very specific breakdown of the money trail.

The Senate changes merely required the Finance secretary to report within 30 days “any distribution of funds pursuant to this act.”

Also, in order to satisfy Public Law 20-10, or the local mandate that splits the $15 million among the delegations—$2 million to the Rota and Tinian delegations, respectively, and $11 million to the Saipan delegation, with $1.5 million going to the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program—the Finance secretary is required to certify to the Legislature the availability of any additional collections above the projected resources for fiscal year 2020 for designation to the delegations, until the $10 million owed to the delegations is fully satisfied.