By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

THE House of Representatives unanimously passed yesterday a measure that will reduce by 5 percent the budgets of at least four autonomous government agencies.
This will restore the Public School System’s 15.6 percent budget cut, estimated at more than $6 million, mostly at the expense of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
All 18 members of the House voted yes on House Bill 15-242 which was authored by Rep. Joseph Deleon P. Guerrero, R-Saipan.
The bill was passed after hours of deliberation which resulted in the insertion of amendments.
H.B. 15-242, which now goes to the Senate, seeks to reduce by 5 percent the fiscal year 2007 budget appropriations of the Commonwealth Ports Authority, CUC and the Office of the Public Auditor.
CDA’s budget will be reduced by $58,953.30; CPA’s by $554,515.55; OPA’s by $156,643.70; and CUC’s by $5.888 million.
The total cuts will generate $6.658 million which will go to PSS and Northern Marianas College.
The Department of Public Lands was originally included on the list of autonomous agencies whose budgets would be cut, but DPL was later removed.
House Minority Leader Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, noted that land leases, DPL’s source of income, should be used for land-related projects and programs only.
House legal counsel Ian Catlett agreed.
According to the bill. “The 5 percent budget reduction of affected government corporations and agencies…is necessary to ensure that the Public School System and Northern Marianas College continue to provide educational services and are not devastated by the 15.6 percent budget reduction.”
The bill identifies the education commissioner and the NMC president as the expenditure authorities of the funds.
During the deliberations several lawmakers raised concern that CUC might be adversely affected by the bill.
“What we’re about to do will take more than $5 million from CUC….CUC would eventually have to recover that,” said Palacios.
Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz, Covenant-Saipan, said “the $5.8 million that we’re going to get (from CUC) is going to add to CUC’s obligations…. CUC might (charge) higher rates.”
But Deleon Guerrero defended his bill saying, “(it) still allows some cushion for (CUC) to operate.”
He did not elaborate.