Sen. Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota and a member of the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee, said they want to work with the House in drafting a new budget.
He said Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, has been “very open and cooperative” with the Senate, and both houses will try to resolve some discrepancies in the governor’s proposed budget.
He said the speaker agrees to balance the budget based in the area of retirement contributions, austerity Fridays, suspension of holiday pays, earmarking of funds, and other things.
The governor’s 2009 budget proposal amounts to $158.4 million and includes several cost-cutting measures.
But according to the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee chaired by Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan, the proposal contained several “mathematical errors.”
Manglona said the Senate has already asked the governor’s office to make the necessary corrections.
“We’ll figure out a way to work with the House and get the budget out as soon as possible,” Manglona said.
Senate Vice President Felix T. Mendiola, Covenant-Rota, said the governor has to resubmit a “correct” budget proposal.
Pangelinan’s committee has transmitted its review of the budget to the governor’s office.
“We hope [the budget bill] will be returned to the House in a timely fashion,” Mendiola stated. “It’s the executive branch that has to correct [the discrepancies].”
Otherwise, he said, the Legislature will make the necessary corrections.
According to Pangelinan, one of the discrepancies she noticed with the proposed budget was the varying wage scales for certain government job positions with similar descriptions and scope of work.
“The review has brought to light hundreds of discrepancies and mathematical errors, as well as apparent errors in the application of civil service position titles, and the corresponding grades and steps,” her report stated.
Since 1998, the CNMI government has only enacted two new budget laws.
Under the CNMI Constitution, the government is allowed to operate under the spending ceiling set by the last budget law until a new one is enacted.
