ENACTING a CNMI law to appropriate $515 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds is not required, Deputy Attorney General Lilian A. Tenorio said.
In her letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona, Tenorio said the American Rescue Plan Act or U.S. Public Law 117-2 “provides for the legal structure within which the funding the Commonwealth and other states and territories, under Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund would be allocated.”
Among the restrictions imposed by the federal law pertain to the permissible uses of the Commonwealth’s share of the funds that would be allocated by the U.S. secretary of the Treasury within the coming months, Tenorio said.
Pursuant to Section 602 (c) of the American Rescue Plan Act, she said, the funding may only be used to cover costs incurred by the NMI government through Dec. 31, 2024 relating to response cost to the public health emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; premium pay to government workers for essential work during the pandemic; funding for government services affected by the revenue loss due to pandemic; and investment in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.
“For the Commonwealth to receive funds under the [American Rescue Plan Act], an enactment of Commonwealth law is not required. What is required of the Commonwealth is to comply with the procedures set forth in Section 602(d), the use restrictions in Section 602(c), and other obligations that may be imposed by the U.S. secretary of the Treasury,” the deputy AG said.
Section 612 (d) of the American Rescue Plan Act states that a certification signed by an authorized officer of the Commonwealth must be sent to the U.S. secretary of Treasury attesting that the Commonwealth requires the payment or transfer to carry out the activities listed in Section 602 (c), and that the Commonwealth will use the funds in compliance with Section 612 (c).
Although the American Rescue Plan Act does not define “authorized officer,” Tenorio said within the framework of the Commonwealth Constitution and the Planning and Budgeting Act, the governor and the Finance secretary are the two Commonwealth officers who “fill the bill” of an authorized officer of the Commonwealth and may issue such certification as required by federal law.
In addition, she said, the Commonwealth must submit regular reports to the U.S. secretary of Treasury on the use of the funds that will include detailed accounting reports. The Commonwealth may be required to submit additional information as requested by the secretary of the Treasury.
Manglona is the primary sponsor of House Bill 22-33, which will require CNMI legislative appropriation of the American Rescue Plan Act funds.
No public hearing was conducted on the bill, which was also not reviewed by a committee, but the House leadership managed to pass the bill despite a 10-10 deadlock by invoking the House interim rules that allowed the speaker to vote twice.
H.B. 22-33 now goes to the Senate, which is led by Republicans.
