He called on the Legislature to revise House Bill 16-30 which was introducd by Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan.
“I call upon the Legislature to develop a more specifically targeted and narrowly defined bill that would define ‘professionals’ under the legislative and judicial branches, in view of our scarce resources and limited ability to provide higher employee compensation,” the governor said in his veto message to the Legislature.
Hofschneider introduced H.B. 16-30 in April.
The bill states that an exception to the ceiling on government salaries should be mandated so that the CNMI can attract and retain competent healthcare professionals and those in other fields.
The bill repealed and reenacted a certain provision on Public Law 15-81, exempting licensed medical professionals, commonwealth-licensed attorneys, certified public accountants, surveyors, engineers and architects from receiving only the maximum annual salary of $50,000.
Medical professionals include physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, clinical and counseling psychologists, physician assistants, psychiatrists, respiratory therapists, clinical social workers, among others.
Although there is no law automatically exempting such professionals from the government salary cap, they enjoy higher salaries through individual letters of request for exemptions that the governor submits to the Legislature.
