The bicameral conference committee worked collaboratively to reach an agreement on the provisions of the budget bill, which was signed into law as Public Law 21-35. I applaud Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and his team for burning the midnight oil to avert a government shutdown.
Nearly every legislative resource at the Senate’s disposal was poured into this budget. Starting in early August, the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee sat down with numerous government entities to discuss budgetary needs for fiscal year 2021. The committee also consulted heavily with the secretary of Finance to obtain a true picture of our government’s finances. These lengthy conversations gave the committee valuable insight s on how to adequately support our entire government in light of economic hardship.
Armed with this information, the committee convened daily in the final weeks of the fiscal year to develop a budget that sufficiently funded all our government functions. It was during this time that the committee discovered previously untapped resources and policy mechanisms that could maximize each government dollar. The committee was especially proud to include provisions that accomplished the following:
- Exceeding the constitutionally mandated 25% funding requirement for the Public School System;
- Enabling our government to fulfill the local match requirement for Medicaid, which will allow the CNMI to avail itself of $60 million in Medicaid funding for our healthcare providers and our people; and
- Securing the return of most of our furloughed public employees for fiscal year 2021.
The committee further determined that the budget needed another provision to ensure funding needs are met: giving the governor 100% reprogramming authority over the executive branch. This authority is usually reserved for responding to emergency situations such as the current Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Committee found it necessary to extend this authority into fiscal year 2021, with or without an emergency declaration. It is critical that the governor has the flexibility to move monies within the executive branch to address any unanticipated funding needs in a timely manner. The committee places our confidence in Governor Torres to use this flexibility in the best interest of our Commonwealth.
As a check on the governor’s reprogramming authority, the Senate also included provisions calling for increased financial reporting requirements for government spending. Understandably, most of these provisions were line-item vetoed. Respectfully, the committee is concerned that these line item vetoes may jeopardize our government’s financial accountability to the people. We look ahead to seeing the governor’s reasoning for these vetoed items, and then we’ll go from there.
On another note, the committee recognizes that this budget is far from perfect. However, we believe that this is the best product possible considering that our budgetary resources fell by $100 million in the span of less than a year. In the face of these challenges we are proud to have avoided a government shutdown while still catering to the needs of our students, our indigent patients, and our employees.
I also understand that there are members of the Legislature who have reservations about this year’s budget. I would like to suggest that instead of ruminating over the budget bill’s imperfections we as policymakers spend the remainder of the 21st Legislature passing revenue-generating legislation. I call on all members to spend the final months of this term finding ways to improve revenue projections and truly committing ourselves to economic recovery. We at the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee stand ready to work with you to achieve this goal.
The author chairs the Senate Committee of Fiscal Affairs.
