Senators review their notes during a session on Monday.
Legislative Bureau photo
HOUSE Bill 24-17, which seeks to grant the Commonwealth Ports Authority flexibility in spending seaport revenues, is now on its way to the desk of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios after the Senate on Monday unanimously adopted the report of the bicameral conference committee recommending the bill’s passage.
The House of Representatives also unanimously approved the committee report during its session on Friday.
Authored by Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, H.B. 24-17 would suspend for five years the provision of Public Law 2-48, which currently prohibits CPA from using seaport revenues for airport activities and vice versa.
The joint committee met with CPA officials before unanimously approving a compromise version of the bill earlier this month.
Prior to the Senate’s adoption of the report, Senate Floor Leader Donald Manglona highlighted the significant difference between the original Senate version and the final product crafted by the conference committee.
He explained that the Senate’s earlier version would have allowed both airport and seaport revenues to be used interchangeably to support the operations of either facility. However, the conference committee’s final version restricts this flexibility to seaport revenues only.
Manglona said this change addresses concerns about federal regulations on the diversion of airport-generated revenues, which are governed by specific grant assurances. By limiting the transfer authority to seaport funds only, the bill ensures compliance with federal grant requirements, bond covenants, and other legal obligations.
This amendment, he added, gives CPA the financial flexibility to maintain operations and restore employee work hours without violating federal conditions.
Manglona also emphasized that the bill retains a key provision: a sunset clause that limits the new spending flexibility to five years. He said this will allow CPA to use excess seaport revenue to cover obligations and address funding gaps in employee work hours — eventually restoring them to full-time status.
He thanked his fellow conference committee members for finalizing the bill and acknowledged CPA officials, led by Chairman Ramon A. Tebuteb, for answering the committee’s questions.
Senate President Dennis James Mendiola also expressed appreciation to the House and Senate conferees for working expeditiously on the measure. He said CPA officials had stressed the urgency of passing the bill so the agency can have the financial flexibility it needs in the coming months.
“I thank the entire team for working together,” Mendiola said.
