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Legislature agrees to have SoCA toward end of Aug.
Members of the House of Representatives believes that a date toward the end of August 2018 was most suitable to hold the joint session to receive Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ annual State of the Commonwealth Address.
The Senate in Senate Joint Resolution 20-06 proposed to have Torres’ SOCA on Aug. 16, 2018, is once again amended to reflect the new joint session date of Aug. 21, 2018 ar the Pedro A. Tenorio Multipurpose Building at 10am. The Senate proposed to the House Aug. 16, 2018 in the joint resolution, which was unanimously supported in the Senate during a previous Senate session.
However, the House through Rep. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan) amended the resolution to reflect the new date of Aug. 21, 2018. Sablan told Saipan Tribune that the date he moved for was an agreed date between the Legislature’s presiding officers, namely House Speaker Rafael S. Demapan (R-Saipan) and Senate President Arnold I. Palacios (R-Saipan).
Sablan told Saipan Tribune that Demapan was able to coordinate with Palacios prior to the session on a scheduled date to hold the join session to receive the annual address while the Torres administration was already made aware of the proposed date.
“I am very confident that [the Senate] will concur,” said Sablan, citing a statement from Demapan during the session. The Senate is scheduled to hold a session tomorrow in the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill at 10am.
The 2017 Commonwealth address was held at the same venue on March 31, 2017. According to a CNMI constitutional mandate, the CNMI Legislature sets a joint session to receive the governor’s annual address.
