Gov. Arnold I. Palacios gestures after signing Public Law 23-12 in his conference room on Tuesday.
GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Tuesday signed into law House Bill 23-77, which authorizes a $15 million revolving line of credit between the CNMI government and the Marianas Public Land Trust.
Authored by Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, the bill is now Public Law 23-12.
Palacios said the line of credit “will serve as bridge financing that will help expedite the progress of about $100 million worth of capital improvement projects funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.”
The EDA grants have been awarded on a reimbursement basis to a number of CNMI agencies, and the line of credit from MPLT will allow the CNMI government to “front the funds” due to vendors, such as architectural and construction firms. The CNMI government can then seek reimbursements from the EDA.
“I want to thank the members of the Legislature for their support of this legislation,” Palacios said. “The line of credit allows us to immediately provide seed funding to facilitate progress payments, improve payment turnaround time to contractors, and expedite project completion,” he added.
“Furthermore, the line of credit also supports revenue generation for the CNMI through tax collections, and more importantly, helps to improve the overall quality of life for CNMI residents by ensuring the timely completion of critical … projects in the CNMI,” Palacios said.
The governor also thanked the MPLT board and staff for their support and partnership “in seeing this line of credit request through.”
Palacios earlier said that the “lack of funds for upfront costs poses a risk for significant delays due to the general fund’s current state of financial stress.”
The EDA-funded projects include the Garapan Revitalization Project, the Oleai Sports Complex, the Oleai Cultural Events Center, the Department of Finance’s Economic Resilience Center, Northern Marianas College’s Workforce Development and Training Center, the NMC Center for Research, Extension and Development Project, the Public School System’s Career Technical Education project, the Northern Marianas Technical Institute’s Workforce Career Training Facility, statewide planning grant projects, Marianas Visitors Authority activities, and the Northern Mariana Islands Maritime Training Center (with 500 Sails as the grantee).
Palacios said these projects will provide a safe and modernized tourist district, disaster resilient government and educational facilities, and additional economic activity for the CNMI.
