Legislature seeks to maintain public and private partnership

The two leaders of both chambers of the 22nd Legislature spoke before the Saipan Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday to reiterate the importance of continuing and even strengthening the partnership between the public and private sectors, especially in this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Appearing as guest speakers at the Chamber’s general membership meeting at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom in Garapan, House Speaker Edmund Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) and Senate president Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) also outlined their legislative priorities in the coming year.

“I look forward to working with all of you [Chamber] and, based on my experience, I appreciate the fast response time whenever a committee or a member reach out to the Chamber for comments on issues. Sometimes the bills that are proposed and actions taken are not to your liking…but please note, ‘differences’ is a part of working together and we at the 22nd Legislature look forward to working together with you,” said Villagomez.

He went on to detail how intends to advance the CNMI’s interest in the 22nd Legislature—“stimulate positive discussions from both sides of the aisle in all areas in our community such as to promote transparency and government accountability, reduction of government debts and obligations, support entrepreneurship, improve the quality of education, health care, public safety and infrastructure, to promote employment, and to protect and preserve culture and traditions.”

Hofschneider envisions the Senate shifting its focus to economic policies first. “We will be working with the House of Representatives to push revenue-generating legislation. That’s going to go as far as extending the proper request for meetings and comments from business community as well. Last year’s fiscal summit included many ideas on taxation. However, we should look beyond tax increase…as we need to continue promoting economic diversity,” he said.

Hofschneider would also like to revisit the CNMI’s tax structure because the government can use it to offer more incentives for people to get into entrepreneurship.

“We can also extend that to businesses and corporations that have been with us for a number of years. We are looking at how we can assist all of them in terms of revising some of the tax structures before us,” he said.

Utilizing the Chamber’s experience in business, Hofshnieder asked for their help in aid of legislation in expanding industries in the CNMI. “With your experience, is there any low-impact, high-value industry that we can introduce into the CNMI that will survive in the long run? It is possible to amend the CNMI Qualifying Certificate Program to accommodate new industries or lower existing threshold?”

Hofshnieder said the Senate is also looking to push economic progress on Tinian and Rota to help them diversify their local economies. “On Tinian, there is an ongoing effort to keep the casino industry going and also to build on the cattle industry. …We are going through the motions of getting certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get the products going. …The infrastructure is already there. …I know Rota is working on projects such as specialty crops as those efforts provide economic opportunities or farmers and ranchers,” he added.

To make opening a business fast and efficient for all islands, Hofschneider believes permit decentralization is the next step. “Decentralization will be especially crucial with federally funded construction projects, Federal Emergency Management Agency projects, the U.S. Department of Defense, and everything else that is associated with construction. …We will also continue nurturing and enhancing our relationship with the DOD as they build in the CNMI. I would like to see DOD turn Tinian into an ‘operations hub’ like a logistical support.”

Hofshneider also welcomed input from the Chamber to tackle the CNMI’s current and future challenges. “I believe if we are honest with ourselves, the members of Legislature and elected officials, we can find redundancies and inefficiencies that we can address. …There is a lot that we want to accomplish in the Senate for the next couple of years and we need all the stakeholders for us to be successful and like to meet with the Chamber more often to get input on how we can support the business community and rebuild our economy.”