GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios and Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita informed Legislative Bureau Director Perry P. Tenorio that there are no sufficient American Rescue Plan Act funds for the Legislature.
During the administration of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, a total of over $8 million was allotted to the Legislature for the Senate and House leaderships, the offices of each senator and House member, the Legislative Bureau and the Youth Congress.
The ARPA monies allotted to each of the 29 lawmakers in the previous Legislature ranged from $84,000 to $124,000 while the bureau was allocated $3.5 million and the Youth Congress received $56,554.
However, although some lawmakers spent their entire ARPA funds, most left a significant portion of their federal funds unspent or undisbursed.
Of the $3.5 million ARPA funds provided to the LB, for example, over $1.8 million was not disbursed.
Finance records also show that a total of $3,653,100.61 in ARPA funds had not been disbursed by the Legislature.
As of press time Thursday evening, there was no available information about what happened to the undisbursed ARPA funds.
In their joint letter to Tenorio last week, the governor and the Finance secretary said, “We regret to inform you that we have reviewed the ARPA Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund spending and determined that there are not sufficient funds available to pay available budget amounts not already disbursed on behalf of the CNMI Legislature.”
The governor and the Finance secretary sent Tenorio the joint letter following the enactment of the fiscal year 2025 budget that does include funding for the bureau’s operations, which amounted to $579,295 in the previous fiscal year.
