Kilili: DOL holding on to half of PUA/PFUC funds

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) has accused the CNMI Department of Labor of not releasing about half of the $380.92 million that the federal government gave the CNMI to help those who lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sablan disclosed in his e-kilili newsletter over the weekend that, of the $380.92 million the federal government gave the CNMI, the local Department of Labor is holding on to about $190.89 million, which means only about $190.03 has been released.

Sablan also stated that President Joe Biden has expressed his commitment for the Marianas to have access to the nationwide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

Citing records provided him by the U.S. Department of Labor, Sablan said that, as of April 10, 2021, less than half the money the CNMI has received for unemployment assistance has been paid to those out of work, and that 2,435 applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation are still waiting to be processed.

At the same time, the delegate said the CNMI has gotten millions from the federal government to administer PUA and PFUC, including last week’s grant of $497,248.

He said it has been over a year since they made workers in the Marianas eligible for federal unemployment assistance—for the first time ever—in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. “By now, we should expect Commonwealth officials to have the program running without delay, so people get the help they need,” Sablan said.

Saipan Tribune was still awaiting comments from Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente as of press time yesterday. 

Last week, Benavente disclosed that they processed about 173,000 PUA claims and 114,000 FPUC claims a week before for Round 2 of PUA.

Benavente said the CNMI’s number of PUA claims continue to remain at the same level as when the program was relaunched back in February 2021. 

On the SNAP matter, Sablan said that Stacy Dean, U.S. Department of Agriculture deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, stated that Biden is fully committed to the territories having access to the federal nutrition programs that’s similar to the states.

Sablan said Dean issued the statement in answer to chair Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Georgia) at a hearing of the agriculture appropriations subcommittee last Tuesday.

Sablan said this commitment from the Biden administration is good news for the Marianas, which remains one of three U.S. jurisdictions that is not part of the nationwide SNAP. “Instead, we receive a fixed block grant for food aid every year, which I have had to add to multiple times over the last two years as the pandemic economic downturn and the 2018 typhoons made more households eligible for help,” Sablan said.

The delegate said he and Dean worked on the 2015 Farm Bill, which included extra funding for the Commonwealth’s Nutrition Assistance Program.

He said he contacted Dean in December to ask for a commitment on SNAP, when the Biden transition team’s announced Dean’s appointment as deputy undersecretary. Since then, Sablan said, he and Dean met several times, along with Jessica Shahin, the national SNAP administrator, and regional administrator Jesus Mendoza to map out how to get the Marianas into SNAP.

Although the Agriculture secretary has the authority to extend SNAP to the Marianas, Sablan said he has also introduced H.R. 421, the AYUDA Act, to accomplish this goal. Sablan said appropriations chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), Rules Committee chair Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts), and other members of leadership are co-sponsors.