By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

REPRESENTATIVE Manuel A. Tenorio has introduced a bill that would reduce tax rebates and suspend six legal holidays which he says will allow the cash-strapped government to end its “austerity holidays.”
Tenorio, R-Saipan, said there is a need to enforce an “across-the-board strategy that will bring fairness and equality” to all government employees.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said the administration will look into the bill.
“We will have to seriously review the merits of this new proposal and carefully evaluate whether it is a more advantageous proposal for a government coping with significant revenue losses,” he told Variety, adding that as for rebate reductions, “we are wary of any proposal that might further discourage business activity” in the CNMI.
Tenorio’s bill proposes the suspension of six holidays with pay and a 20 percent cut in the current rebate structure.
He said these will replace the existing austerity Friday holidays that translate to a 10 percent pay cut for government employees.
House Bill 15-196 seeks to amend Public Law 15-24, as amended by P.L. 15-27, and implement “alternative fiscal austerity measures.”
According to the bill, “the suspension of the six holidays with pay will apply to all government employees thereby making it fair and equitable to all employees. As a result, the reduction in an employee’s salary would be less than 3 percent, in comparison to the 10 percent reduction in P.L. 15-24.”
Tenorio said that by using the established holidays as a basis and not the austerity holiday schedule there would be no “disruption” in the delivery and operation of government services because government offices are already closed on legal holidays.
He added that his bill would “increase government employee purchasing power by restoring most of their lost income.”
The government, Tenorio said, would save about $3 million on the suspension of the following holidays: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 15; President’s Day, Feb. 19; Covenant Day, March 23; Good Friday, April 6; Memorial Day, May 28; Independence Day, July 4; and Labor Day, Sept. 3.
Reducing the tax rebates will yield some $3.5 million in savings, Tenorio said.
“By implementing this 20 percent reduction in rebates, every taxpayer who is a wage earner contributes to the maintenance of this government,” he added.