Initiatives to shrink govt size, extend land leases not on ballot

Initiatives to shrink the CNMI government’s size such as having a 12-member unicameral Legislature or abolishing municipal councils, along with extending land leases up to 99 years, won’t be presented to voters for ratification in November because lawmakers are no longer expected to be able to pass them by tomorrow’s deadline.

Rep. Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan), right, and House Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan), second from left, file their candidacies yesterday, accompanied by their supporters Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), second from right, and former speaker Diego Benavente. Also in photo are Election Commission executive director Robert A. Guerrero and Rep. Mario Taitano (Ind-Saipan). (Haidee V. Eugenio)

Even if the Senate passes on Rota today Sen. Paul Manglona’s (Ind-Rota) legislative initiative capping government spending at $104.32 million, the House is not expected to call an emergency session for it.

“It’s tough to have everyone agree on the same thing these days. But I hope in the future, lawmakers would go the extra mile to limit spending or to not spend everything the government has. It does not have to be a budget cap, but set aside something for the rainy days and to retire outstanding obligations such as land compensation, retroactive pay, medical referrals,” Manglona, author of Senate Legislative Initiative 18-3, told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Only three questions will be placed on the ballot, Commonwealth Election Commission executive director Robert A. Guerrero said.

These include two legislative initiatives out of 17 introduced in the 18th Legislature, and one asking voters whether there should be a constitutional convention to propose constitutional amendments. The latter is in the form of a House bill that both chambers passed but didn’t go to the governor for signature, Guerrero said.

One of the two initiatives asks voters whether they agree to amend the NMI Constitution to allow any U.S. citizen with “at least some degree” of Chamorro or Carolinian blood to be considered a person of Northern Marianas descent who can own land in the CNMI.

The other asks voters whether they want a constitutional amendment to ensure that the Public School System will receive 25 percent of the government’s annual appropriation, up from the current 15 percent funding.

Funding

Yesterday, Election Commission’s Guerrero met with Senate President Ralph Torres (R-Saipan) to request at least $60,000 in additional fiscal year 2015 funding for the commission to help address costs of the Nov. 6 elections.

Guerrero is hoping that the Senate will add $60,000 more to the House’s proposal of $109,000.

That same amount is added to the Election Commission’s fiscal year 2014 budget, by way of a supplemental budget.

“We’re asking that it be rolled over into the fiscal year 2015 too because the election is during fiscal year 2015,” Guerrero said in an interview on Capital Hill.

Each election costs $80,000 to $90,000. The CNMI is headed for three elections in November: the general election on Nov. 6 and a special election for a third Saipan senatorial seat also on the same day. A gubernatorial runoff election is also expected.

More filings

The Election Commission continued to see filings of candidacies yesterday, two days before the Aug. 6 deadline.

Among yesterday’s filers were House Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) and Rep. Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan), both seeking re-election representing Precinct 1.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) was among those who accompanied the two during their candidacy filing yesterday afternoon. The delegate also showed up at the filing of Rep. Edmund Villagomez’s (Cov-Saipan) re-election bid.

On Tuesday next week, the Election Commission will hold the drawing of candidates’ numbers. For example, the four gubernatorial candidates or their representatives will get to randomly pick numbers that will correspond to the order of their names’ appearance on the ballot.

A day later, on Aug. 13, the Election Commission board is expected to certify the filing of candidacies.

Failed initiatives

The 18th House of Representatives introduced 14 initiatives, and only two will make it to the ballot. The 18th Senate introduced three, none of which will reach voters.

House floor leader Ralph Demapan’s (Cov-Saipan) HLI 18-2 seeks to abolish the Saipan, Tinian and Rota municipal councils and establish a chartered municipal form of government for Saipan. Lawmakers didn’t pass it to give voters a chance to decide on it.

Rep. Christopher Leon Guerrero’s (Cov-Saipan) HLI 18-8, which seeks a unicameral rather than a bicameral Legislature, won’t be presented to voters.

“We ran out of time to hold more public hearings on the unicameral legislature initiative. During the public hearings we already held, people were split on the issue,” Leon Guerrero said.

With its estimated population of some 53,000, the CNMI has a bicameral Legislature: a nine-member Senate and a 20-member House of Representatives.

Guam, in contrast, has an estimated population of 160,000 but only has a 15-member Senate.

Although talked about, an initiative to present a question to Saipan voters whether they want a casino on Saipan wasn’t even crafted during the 18th Legislature. Lawmakers passed a bill instead, legalizing casino gaming on Saipan.