SENATE President Paul A. Manglona has commended Senate Floor Leader Joaquin G. Adriano for reviving the proposal to reduce the number of members in the House of Representatives and increase the lawmakers’ term of office.
“I think Senator Adriano is trying to keep the issue alive in line with past discussions made by the Legislature. But in the past, nobody really sat down and seriously addressed this issue and I commend him for opening up this concern again,” said Manglona, R-Rota.
Adriano, D-Tinian, recently introduced Senate Legislative Initiative 13-2 which seeks to downsize the number of House members from 18 to 12 with one member elected from Rota, one member elected from Tinian and 10 members elected from Saipan and the Northern Islands.
It also proposes to reduce the four election districts of Saipan and the Northern Islands to one election district electing 12 representatives on “at-large basis.” Moreover, it would increase the terms of office for senators to six years and that of representatives to four years and raise each lawmaker’s annual base salary from $39,000 to $60,000.
“We may have to address the issue on extending the term of office for lawmakers. Every two years, people get involved in politics. Maybe in the U.S. this is not a problem. But in a small island, politics comes too much in the way, with elections held every two years,” he said.
Manglona is hoping that Saipan lawmakers would get involved in the discussions on Adriano’s proposal.
However, Manglona noted, raising the lawmakers’ salary may not be practical now as the CNMI continues to experience economic hardship.
A legislative initiative is a proposal to amend the Constitution. It has to be passed by 3/4 of the voting members of each house of the Legislature before it could be placed on the ballots in the next elections. CNMI voters would then get a chance to ratify or reject the legislative initiative.
