Reps. Roy Ada, left, listens to Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao during a break from a session of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation in the House chamber on Wednesday. Also in photo are Reps. Thomas John Manglona and Vicente Camacho, seated.
BY a vote of 17 to 1, the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation on Wednesday passed House Local Bill 23-36, which re-appropriates $300,000 in annual amusement license fee collections for Kagman infrastructure projects.
The fund was originally appropriated by Saipan Local Law 21-13 for the Northern Marianas Housing Corp.’s home loan program.
Authored by Rep. Angelo Camacho, H.L.B. 23-36 proposes to re-appropriate the fund as follows:
1) $60,000 for the payment of the outstanding medical referral obligations to Saipan Employment Agency & Services Inc.
2) $240,000 for road anti-skid on Chacha Road in Kagman I and for a ponding basin in Kagman III. (The expenditure authority shall be the secretary of the Department of Public Works or his designee.)
Rep. Roy Ada, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he was made aware of the concerns of Northern Marianas Housing Corp. Corporate Director Jesse S. Palacios, who told the Saipan lawmakers last month that the fund is seed money for NMHC’s rental and home loan program.
Ada said he does not support a bill that takes away funding to help people in need.
But Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao, who co-sponsored the bill, said the Saipan delegation appropriated $300,000 to help local residents repair their homes destroyed by Super Typhoon Yutu. He recalled that at the time, a lot of people on the island did not qualify for federal assistance so the Saipan delegation appropriated the annual amusement license fee collections for NMHC so it could help typhoon victims who could not qualify for federal assistance.
Unfortunately, Attao said, “it never kicked off,” and NMHC was not able to distribute any of the amount.
That was four and a half years ago, he noted. Attao said he wonders why NMHC is now challenging the re-appropriation of the fund, “knowing the fact that back then, they got $240 million, and over $100 million of which was to assist homeowners for rebuilding and refurbishing homes.”
Attao said the $300,000 should have been used to help Saipan residents fix their houses years ago. He reiterated that NMHC received over $240 million from the federal government for the same purpose.
Instead of “going after” the $300,000, Attao said NMHC should focus on moving the federally funded house repair projects forward so people can have homes.
“It’s kind of funny, but you are going to fight for the local fund now when you had it back then and could have used [the money] for our people,” he said.
Camacho said the amusement license fee collection that NMHC “failed to distribute to the people” is the funding source of the local bill.
He said the delegation is not “just going to get funds from other entities if [the members] felt it’s not suitable.”
He added, “This funding would really mean a lot for the people of Precinct 5. Over the years I’ve been living in Precinct 5, there have been 10 accidents on those roads. The appropriation would go toward addressing that issue.”
He said he also had the opportunity to see the condition of the ponding basin in Kagman, which will also be “addressed” by his local bill.
House Floor Leader Edwin Propst said the $300,000 “was there four and a half years ago, and could have been used at the time, but was never utilized. Now a precinct is in dire need. Regardless of which precinct it is, we have an obligation especially when it comes to people with safety issues and concerns — and the ponding basin, that’s been a longstanding issue.”
Propst said it is difficult right now to find available funding sources.
“We always help those who are in need. This is a case when we need this funding to fix Precinct 5 and it’s needed for all the people in Precinct 5.”
House Local Bill 23-36 now goes to the governor.
