YOUTH Sen. Easton Joel C. Dela Cruz on Friday said the main goal of his Youth Congress Bill 18-1 is to make the Youth Congress a more organized body of the CNMI youth.
This Wednesday, the Youth Congress will act on his Y.C.B. 18-1, which proposes to make representation in the Youth Congress mandatory in all schools.
Currently, a private or public high school with 20 or more students can elect a youth senator.
In his email, Dela Cruz said: “Although my bill is proposing to mandate all high schools in the CNMI to participate in the Youth Congress, the main goal of my bill is to make the Youth Congress a more organized body of the CNMI that reaches its potential to represent the youth of the CNMI as a whole.”
His measure will also require the Youth Congress to hold regular sessions every two months on the third Saturday of the month. Additional session days, but not more than three days, will be permitted each year.
Y.C.B. 18-1 states: “Each private and public high school with a student population of 20 is mandated to have one senator.”
The measure would also require private and public high schools with more than 500 students to have one additional senator for every 500 students.
Bills passed by the Youth Congress are forwarded to the governor and the presiding officers of the Legislature “for disposition.”
Currently, the Youth Congress has five members only: Youth Speaker Cielo Citlalli G. Long, Youth Vice Speaker Liekeila’akata Iakopo, Youth Congress Floor Leader YuriHana Sasamoto, Secretary Abriette Manglona and Dela Cruz.
The 1993 law that created the Youth Congress allowed for over 17 members, but because of low and declining student voter turnout in Youth Congress elections, the law was amended in 2010 to allow qualified high schools to decide whether to elect youth senators or not.
The government’s fiscal year 2021 budget allotted $29,037 for the Youth Congress.
Youth Sen. Easton Joel C. Dela Cruz is sworn in with the rest of the 18th Youth Congress members on May 15, 2021 in the Senate chamber.
