2024 was not an improvement over 2023, which was a bad year for the CNMI. As you read this, the islands’ financial bleeding continues. Meanwhile, to paraphrase Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, the administration continues to push on a door that has been clearly marked “pull.”
After two years of the governor’s “pivot” — for which he has no mandate — the CNMI economy has yet to recover, and the government still intends to spend more than it can collect locally. The governor and his legislative allies are still looking for barrels to scrape. (A loan from MPLT. An MOA with CUC that wiped out $10.9 million in the government’s unpaid utility bills. “Residual” ARPA funds. A pension obligation bond.) And they still want hard-pressed businesses and other taxpayers to pay more fees and taxes to this government so it can continue to be bloated, wasteful and inefficient.
Sadly, based on its public statements, the administration remains unbelievably out of touch. It is still stuck on campaign mode — for the 2022 election. To get an idea of how economically oblivious it is, read the Office of the Governor’s Citizen-Centric Report 2024. It declares that the administration’s goals “are to restore transparency, effectiveness, and accountability in government.”
Are those truly the most urgent and pressing concerns of the CNMI people today? When was the last time administration officials actually talked to — and listened to — business owners, their workers, government employees, retirees, and other island residents? Spoiler alert: The public’s focus is on securing their livelihoods and future on these islands, not on political catchphrases.
The centric report, to be sure, mentioned — almost as an afterthought — that the governor’s office also aims to grow and diversify the CNMI economy. Great. But what about trying to revive it first? The local economy is tourism-based. As local business community leaders reminded CNMI’s top officials in October 2023, “the majority of the CNMI’s income comes directly from visitor expenditures. The multiplier effect cascades accordingly, affecting private sector employment of CNMI U.S. workers and government services and budgets, funded primarily by taxes paid by businesses and their employees and the associated employment of government personnel.” Moreover, the “fuel of the private sector, and the driver of investment and business revenue, are the customers for our products and services. Our economy and our government cannot sustain itself on revenue generated by residents alone. We all require tourists to visit our islands, stay at our hotels, eat at our restaurants, and shop at our stores to survive. While the progress toward resuming the South Korean market has benefited the economy, the market cannot shoulder the entire weight of the Commonwealth alone.”
Enough already
The business community has been urging this administration to diversify the tourism industry instead of relying on a single market, which is currently South Korea. As for the governor’s other preferred market, Japan, arrivals remain a trickle despite ongoing MVA promotions. China used to be the CNMI’s second-largest tourism market. Despite the absence of direct flights from mainland China and MVA promotions, the CNMI is getting more visitors from China than Japan.
Why won’t this administration allow MVA to tap the China market once again?
Now if the administration doesn’t find the persistently low arrival rates alarming, then it should make significant cuts to government spending instead of preying on the wallets of struggling taxpayers.
What the administration truly wants, based on its pivot pronouncements, is to make the islands more dependent on federal handouts and boondoggles.
Happily, CNMI voters have other ideas. In November, they elected a delegate candidate who ran on a platform of improving the tourism-based economy.
At last, an elected official in the CNMI is stepping forward to break away from the failed policies of this surprisingly unfit administration.
Happy New Year!
