WITH Tinian Rep. Patrick San Nicolas casting the lone dissenting vote, the House of Representatives on Friday rejected the Senate version of House Bill 23-66 or the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Act.
The 16 other members present voted yes to House Floor Leader Edwin Propst’s motion to reject the Senate version of the budget bill that included an allotment of $1.7 million for Tinian.
Reps. Joseph Flores, Thomas J. Manglona and Manny Castro were excused.
Immediately after the vote, Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez appointed the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, as head of the House conference committee that will meet with its Senate counterpart to draft a version of the budget acceptable to both chambers.
Without a new and balanced budget enacted into law on Oct. 1, 2023, there will be a partial government shutdown.
According to the speaker, the other members of the House conference committee are Reps. Blas Jonathan Attao and John Paul Sablan with Reps. Angelo Camacho and Marissa Flores as alternate members.
Prior to the roll call vote, Yumul “respectfully” requested the other House members to vote for the rejection of the Senate version of the $114.2 million budget bill for four reasons:
1) The detailed version submitted by the House was removed.
2) The funding for the group health and life insurance or GHLI of government employees and Medicaid must be discussed because over $2 million has been removed from Medicaid. There is language in the Senate version that reflects how GHLI will be paid, “but it’s not clear.”
3) The reduction of more than half a million dollars from the Saipan Mayor’s Office’s budget.
Yumul said there are other issues with the Senate version that need to be ironed out by a bicameral conference committee.
San Nicolas expressed his support for the Senate version, and echoed Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan’s statement that the Tinian municipality “will grind [to] a halt” should the House version of H.B. 23-66 become law.
Under the House version, San Nicolas said the Tinian mayor’s office employees will lose their jobs. He thanked the Senate for “bringing equity.”
Rep. Malcolm Omar said he was ready to vote for the rejection of the Senate version of the budget because of the changes in the funding for GHLI and Medicaid.
He said the CNMI government has been in “arrears” for more than six months now, and the provider “is really gracious to even continue providing coverage for government employees.”
As for the reduction in Medicaid funding as proposed by the Senate, Omar said, “There will be significant consequences for both the healthcare system and the overall fiscal health of the CNMI government.”
He said Medicaid plays a pivotal role in ensuring access to healthcare services for low-income individuals and families.
Flores thanked San Nicolas for his “unwavering support” for Tinian. However, she said she would have to agree with Omar and reject the Senate version, which also reduced the budget of the Saipan Mayor’s Office, “therefore handicapping the office which provides services to our people here in the Third Senatorial District.”
She said just as the Tinian mayor “must do his due diligence and remain committed to his fiduciary responsibility, so does our mayor here in the Third Senatorial District.”
Rep. John Paul Sablan expressed concern about the provision in the Senate version for the $531,277 in American Rescue Plan Act funds that would be transferred from the Tinian Treasury to the general fund.
He said ARPA fund expenditures are supposedly based on a spending plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury. “So absent any communication from the Tinian mayor allowing such transfer, it is of concern to me,” he added.
Rep. Julie Ogo of Rota said she understands San Nicolas’ concern for Tinian municipal employees.
But she said, she would vote to reject the Senate version because she sympathizes with the hundreds of individuals on Rota who are receiving Medicaid assistance.
Rep. Roman C. Benavente commended San Nicolas for expressing concern for his constituents on Tinian, but he said he supported the motion to reject the Senate version because of many concerns, especially regarding funding for Medicaid.
