On Monday afternoon, President Toribiong did not sign the OEK version of the budget but instead returned the bill to the lawmakers saying that Congress “erroneously appropriated $20 million and not $18 million,” from the Compact funding.
In his referral letter to the Congress leaders, the president said that there was a $2 million Compact fund oversight by the OEK which caused a shortage in the funds.
However the lawmakers said that they error was a typographical one and that the budget is still balanced.
The OEK version authorized a sum of over $55 million but President Toribiong now wants a $56 million budget from his original proposal of $54 million.
The president in justifying his new version said the OEK’s error “forced me to reevaluate the funds that will be available for expenditure in the coming fiscal year.”
He said that he was able to balance the budget by combining the proceeds from the sale of the land in Guam, funds anticipated from the collection of green fee and enhanced projection in the local revenues.
Toribiong is in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly. He is expected to return to Palau on Monday.
As of presstime , both houses are conducting sessions to act on Toribiong’s referral letter. If the House rejects the president’s proposed changes and the Senate does not agree with the House, the bill will die and the lawmakers have to go back to square one in order to tackle the budget anew.
To avoid a government shutdown, Palau may operate on a continuing resolution until the budget row is resolved
The options for both houses were to correct the error and return it to the president.
However in returning the budget, the president made changes to the OEK version by slashing the states grants and increasing budgets of education, health and public safety.
In his referral letter, the president said that they maybe another supplemental budget to be proposed in the future.
The Senate and House of Delegates have ironed out their differences in the proposed Fiscal year 2011 budget without going into a conference committee to expedite the process.
The timeline was to have it signed by the president by Sept. 20. He did not sign the budget.
Earlier lawmakers assured a timely passage of the proposed Fiscal Year 2011 proposed budget to avoid a government shutdown or go into a continuing resolution.
