Ralph N. Yumul
HOUSE Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ralph N. Yumul has prefiled House Bill 23-115, which would appropriate $117 million for the CNMI government in fiscal year 2025.
The budget spreadsheet accompanying the bill mirrors Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ proposal for the various departments, agencies and government activities, but the bill included additional suspensions of earmarks.
Yumul said his committee also included “significant administrative provisions” that are not present in Public Law 23-9 or the FY 2024 Appropriation Act. They also removed some of the language in the current budget law, he added.
He said H.B. 23-115 restored a few administrative provisions that the governor line-item vetoed in signing P.L. 23-9 last year, such as Section 605, which would require the government to pay basic salary rate for hours worked on a non-federal Commonwealth legal holiday without any additional adjustment for holiday leave with pay.
Moreover, unlike P.L. 23-9, the proposed FY2025 budget measure identifies the recipients of the Commonwealth Worker Funds collected from CNMI-Only Transitional Worker visa applicants. H.B. 23-115 would allot $1.3 million in Commonwealth Worker Funds to the following:
1) Northern Marianas Technical Institute – $780,000
2) Northern Marianas College – $195,000
3) CNMI Department of Labor-Registered Apprenticeship Program – $195,000
4) Public School System – $52,000
5) CNMI DOL administrative costs -$78,000
Yumul said they aim to pass the new fiscal year budget before the end of this month. The current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, 2024. The CNMI government must enact a new balanced budget by Oct. 1, 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown.
The FY 2024 budget allotted $119.19 million for the government. Early this month, however, the governor reported a cumulative shortfall of $3.43 million as of the third quarter of FY 2024, and announced a “proportionate” budget reduction in the current fiscal year.
