REPRESENTATIVE Vincent “Kobre” Aldan said there is a need to reduce the size of the CNMI government because it is “over bloated” and “we cannot afford” the cost.
During the miscellaneous part of a House session last week, he said: “Let me be the devil’s advocate on this issue with all the problems that we are facing. I do have a solution. It might not be a popular solution. It doesn’t just go for the Legislature, but it goes for every government agency and executive branch.”
He said the size of the government must be reduced, adding that there are private sector jobs that need to be filled.
He said there’s no guarantee that private sector jobs will be filled by locals “because we are never going to have enough people.”
But, he added, “the government is over bloated, and it spends too much.”
The fiscal year 2024 budget spreadsheet indicates that there are more than 3,600 government employees whose salaries will cost over $70.2 million. This amount does not include the cost of the government employees’ group life and health insurance, the annual settlement agreement payments for government retirees and their 25% benefit.
For FY 2024, the government’s projected net budgetary resources available for appropriation amount to $114.2 million.
Aldan said some people in the government need to start looking for other jobs because “we cannot afford” the government’s current size.
He said people should also understand that the services they demand from the government are not free.
If you have a big government, he said, “what you are going to have is a big taxing problem that nobody wants.”
He said lawmakers are trying to do their very best with the available resources, “but I also understand that we do squander a lot and we have to hold ourselves accountable for all of that.”
“So yes, that is my proposed solution. Reduce the size of government, reduce your spending, pay your debt, and that way, when the government pays its debts, then the vendors can pay their business gross revenue taxes,” he added.
Aldan said no one wants to hear about tax hike proposals, but members of the public should also “reduce their demands from the government.”
He said the public should “stop demanding the government do all kinds of things because those cost money, and the only way government can make money is by taxing. As much as you don’t like it, the more you ask from government, the more the government will tax.”
Vince Kobre Aldan
