Senate passes several bills on Rota session

The Senate passed several key bills during its regular session on Rota on Friday.

According to Sen. Teresita A. Santos (R-Rota), it was a “productive session” with the Senate passing Senate Bills 19-02, 19-21, 19-27, and 19-28.

The first bill, S.B. 19-02, seeks to provide “a healthy closure with the outgoing mayor, provide a sufficient timeframe to review and plan closed and ongoing projects beginning two weeks after certification from the Commonwealth Election Commission, and to assure a successful transition in mayoral leadership.”

Santos said she prefiled S.B. 19-02 after the Legislature found that there are currently no provisions or procedures for a successful transition for a mayor-elect into office.

The proposed bill, to be called Mayoral Transition Act of 2015, if passed, also mandates the mayor-elect and temporary employees “to work with the incumbent mayor and his/her officials and/or Cabinet members to provide for the orderly transfer of power.”

S.B. 19-21, introduced by Sens. Victor B. Hocog, Francisco Borja, Jude U. Hofschneider, and Arnold I. Palacios, calls for the transfer of funds allocated for Rota and Tinian to their respective municipal treasury “in order to effectively and efficiently manage, control, and account for its funds.”

The proposed legislation also calls for the Department of Finance to deposit the funds for Rota and Tinian to their respective Municipal Treasury within 10 days.

S.B. 19-27, introduced by Hocog, seeks to make “electronic impersonation” a crime in the CNMI.

The bill cited impersonation by electronic means or “e-personation” that is intended to harm or defraud the person impersonated is a growing trend around the world, including the Commonwealth.

“It occurs when thieves, scam artists, or people who want revenge use the Internet to pretend to be someone else, either by creating a fake Facebook or other Web profile, or by communicating via email with third parties while pretending to be someone else,” the bill reads.

S.B. 19-28, introduced by Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz, seeks to exempt vehicles used by elected officials from the window tinting restrictions and government license plate requirement.

According to the proposed bill, “this will ensure that elected officials cannot be easily attacked while traveling on the road or in a parked vehicle.”