It is unlikely, however, that the House of Representatives will also override the governor’s rejections of the budget items for Rota and Tinian.
The governor’s message informing the Senate that he has signed the budget law, or P.L. 17-21, is expected to be placed on the session calendar today.
After an eight-day government shutdown that put 1,400 employees out of work, the Legislature passed the budget bill on Oct. 8.
The House retained the Senate’s proposal to subsidize charter flights and promotions for Rota and Tinian in the amount of $360,000, while the senators finally agreed to the 16-hour cut and 13 unpaid holidays for government employees.
Fitial signed the bill into law on Oct. 10 but line-item vetoed the Rota and Tinian appropriation provision.
He instead urged lawmakers to work with the Marianas Visitors Authority in its effort to effectively promote the CNMI as a single destination.
No one among the senators interviewed by this reporter wanted to comment yesterday but they said they will override the line-item vetoes. They declined to be identified.
