Joint Senate, House conference committee sets meeting today

The Senate’s and House of Representatives’ conference committees will hold a joint meeting today, Tuesday, to resolve their differences on a bill that would revise the budget law for the CNMI government’s operations for fiscal year 2023.

This developed after Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) appointed Sen. Donald M. Manglona (Ind-Rota) as chairperson of the Senate Conference Committee, while House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) appointed Rep. Ralph N. Yumul (Ind-Saipan) to chair the House Conference Committee.

The bicameral conference committee will be tasked with hammering out a mutually acceptable legislation to revise the budget law for fiscal year 2023.

Manglona and Yumul on Saturday set the joint conference committee’s meeting for today, Tuesday, at 11am, in the House chamber.

Ralph N. Yumul and Donald Manglona

DeLeon Guerrero appointed Sen. Corina L. Magofna (Ind-Saipan) as vice chairperson of the Senate Conference Committee, Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors (R-Tinian) as member, and Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) as an alternate member.

To assist the Senate conferees, DeLeon Guerrero appointed Senate legal counsel Jose A. Bermudes, fiscal analyst Dave Demapan, and legislative assistants Jolyn B. Duenas-Tagabuel and Devin C. Macaranas.

“I place every trust and confidence that our Senate conferees will work cooperatively to resolve any concerns with the House conferees in a timely manner to formally act on the [fiscal year] 2023 CNMI budget plan,” the Senate president said.

Villagomez earlier appointed Yumul as chairman of the House Conference Committee, with Reps. Blas Jonathan T. Attao (Ind-Saipan) and John Paul P. Sablan (Ind-Saipan) as members, and Rep. Marissa Renee Flores (Ind-Saipan) as an alternate member.

That came after the House rejected Friday the Senate’s proposed amendments to the bill that would revise the budget for fiscal year 2023.

Attao said during Friday’s House special session that the position of the House would be to reject the Senate’s version because they want to understand why an additional $225,000 is being given to both Tinian and Rota.

Gov. Arnold I. Palacios had asked the Legislature to revise the fiscal year 2023 budget, noting that just after the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, a large portion of the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that were available for appropriation in fiscal year 2023 have already been expended and are no longer available for the rest of fiscal year 2023.

The Legislature needs to pass this week the legislation to revise the budget since Palacios is cutting the work schedule of some Executive Branch employees to just 72 hours starting this Monday, April 24, and through the end of fiscal year 2023.