THE Office of Personnel Management “is going to see a spike” in the number of civil service positions in the CNMI government, OPM Director Frances T. Torres-Salas told the House Ways and Means Committee, which conducted a budget hearing on Wednesday.
Torres-Salas at the same time said OPM is “happy” with their budget proposed in the governor’s submission for fiscal year 2022.
She noted that the governor’s submission is $24,000 higher than what they requested.
In his FY 2022 budget submission, the governor allotted $515,000 in local revenue to OPM, plus $396,243 in American Recue Plan Act funds.
Torres-Salas also told lawmakers that “we are going to see a spike or increase in civil service positions being filled in the executive branch.”
Right now, she said, there are about 2,000 government employees in civil service positions in the executive branch.
Democrat Rep. Celina Babauta asked, “Is that because exempted employees in the executive branch are transitioning into civil service positions?”
The OPM director said she’s not aware of any transition from exempted to civil service, adding that she would wonder why an employee would leave an exempted position with a higher salary.
Babauta, who served as executive assistant to former Gov. Juan N. Babauta, said it happens when top executive officials want to protect the tenure of their employees.
Torres-Salas said among the government agencies that will hire a significant number of new employees are the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Customs and Quarantine Services.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided the CNMI with over $481 million to, among other purposes, replenish lost local government revenue due to Covid-19, and bring back government jobs lost during the pandemic.
Rent
Torres-Salas said OPM expects its rent expenses to increase. Right now OPM pays $4,000 a month for renting office space at Spring Plaza in Gualo Rai for which they are funded $48,000 a year.
She said they anticipate their rent to increase by about $1,000 so they would need a total of $60,000 for rent expenses for the entire fiscal year.
On Tinian, she said, they pay $400 rent but not on Rota because the mayor’s office provided OPM with office space.
The House Ways and Means Committee is chaired by Rep. Donald Manglona. Also present during the budget hearing on Wednesday were Reps. Ivan Blanco, Sheila Babauta, Celina Babauta, Ralph Yumul, Vicente Camacho, Richard Lizama, Edwin Propst, Leila Staffler and Tina Sablan who attended via video conference.
From left, Office of Personnel Management employee-employer relations chief Sebastian Deleon Guerrero, administrative services chief Bernadita C. Sablan, OPM Director Frances Torres-Salas, classification compensation chief Guillerma Peters and employee development chief Joseph Pangelinan pose for a photo after attending a budget hearing conducted by the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
