By Emmanuel T. Erediano
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Variety News Staff
GOVERNOR David M. Apatang said Monday that he is 100% in support of Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds’ proposal to extend the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program for another 10 years.
King-Hinds’ draft proposal seeks to amend federal law. She is inviting review and feedback from the governor and other CNMI leaders before formally introducing the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In an interview Monday, the governor said he was working on his response to King-Hinds’ invitation and hoped to send his letter by Wednesday.
The governor said he supports King-Hinds’ bill because he sees the importance of extending the CW program through Dec. 31, 2039.
He said he attended the CNMI Department of Labor’s job fair at the Crowne Plaza Resort on Friday and saw large crowds at each booth, with people looking for jobs. Still, he said, “we need our foreign labor. We don’t have a lot of the expertise that is needed here.”
Construction workers, for example — “those are the things that we need help with,” he said.
In addition to extending the CW program, King-Hinds’ proposal seeks to address long-standing issues in the current transition framework, including enforcement challenges and statutory requirements that place unnecessary burdens on employers.
The bill would strengthen enforcement tools, dedicate additional resources to compliance, remove the “touch-back” requirement, and grant the governor authority comparable to that exercised by Guam in supporting labor determinations, King-Hinds said.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
