TINIAN Sens. Karl King-Nabors and Frank Q. Cruz on Sunday vowed to “fight” for the $2.7 million that the administration and the House of Representatives cut from the fiscal year 2024 budget of the Tinian Mayor’s Office.
In separate interviews on Sunday, Nabors and Cruz said they don’t support House Bill 23-66, which the House passed on Thursday. The bill now goes to the Senate.
King-Nabors said they will “definitely” express their concerns once the Senate begins its budget deliberations.
He said toward the end of this week, they expect the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee to hold a meeting, which should give Tinian officials, including Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, one last opportunity to provide the Senate committee with “a clear picture” of how American Rescue Plan Act monies had been spent by the mayor’s office.
Hopefully, the committee would reconsider the House action on Tinian’s budget, said King-Nabors, who is a member of the committee.
Cruz, who is not a member of the committee, said he will push for the restoration of the $2.7 million that was cut from the Tinian Mayor’s Office budget.
He noted that the House did not even address the Senate amendment to the House Concurrent Resolution 23-2, which pertains to the projected FY 2024 revenue identified by the governor.
Cruz said the Senate unanimously voted last week to reduce the projected revenue to $163 million from $172.5 million, removing the over $9 million shortfall that the administration included in its budget proposal.
For her part, Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero said the FY 2024 budget bill or H.B. 23-66 was received by the Senate Friday and had been referred to the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Senate Vice President Donald M. Manglona.
Deleon Guerrero said any budget disagreements between the House and the Senate will be resolved by a bicameral conference committee.
House vote
By a vote of 17 to 1 on Thursday, the House passed House Bill 23-66, which proposes a $115.4 million government budget in FY 2024.
Reps. Diego Vincent F. Camacho and Vicente Camacho were excused from the session.
The budget bill projects a total of $172.5 million in gross revenue for the next fiscal year, but also takes into account a $9.1 million shortfall, which the administration said should be addressed by tax hike measures.
Rep. Patrick San Nicolas of Tinian cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the budget bill would reduce the appropriation for the Tinian Mayor’s Office by $2.7 million.
H.B. 23-66 retains Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ proposal to fund the Tinian Mayor’s Office with $4.6 million which is $2.7 million less than Tinian’s previous budget. The governor said he took into account the “remaining” $2.7 million of the $3.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds that Tinian received from the central government last year.
Prior to the roll call vote, San Nicolas said “it is very unfortunate that Tinian is not properly funded.”
He said the $2.7 million cut will affect the 124 employees, “who are the backbone of the municipality, and have families and financial obligations.”
San Nicolas noted that the Tinian mayor had informed the House Ways and Means Committee that the ARPA funds will not be available on Oct. 1, 2023, the beginning of new fiscal year, as most of the funds have already been allocated.
San Nicolas told his fellow House members that the ARPA funds will soon be gone and the Tinian Mayor’s Office employees will lose their jobs.
“Why should Tinian be penalized with a $2.7 million cut? We are talking about people’s lives here. I’m not here for myself, I’m here to let you guys understand that federally funded employees will not last long,” San Nicolas said.
“In my humble opinion, this is not fair,” he said, adding that he “respectfully will not vote for the passage of this budget.”
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ralph Yumul said, “I hear the sentiments of our good colleague from the Second Senatorial District,” but “there are no funds that can be moved around…. We did try to fund everything. We wish we could fund Tinian more, but we have to look at different priorities and address them accordingly. This is the first step. The bill will now go to the Senate. I’m sure the Second Senatorial District senators are going to weigh in, and we should be patient,” Yumul said.
