THE Legislature is willing to work with the administration in revising the government’s fiscal year 2023 budget.
Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero and House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, along with other lawmakers, attended the Palacios-Apatang administration’s first press conference on Wednesday in the governor’s conference room.
Deleon Guerrero had submitted various Open Government Act requests to the Department of Finance, and said that she was particularly satisfied with the response she received regarding the American Rescue Plan Act funding for nonprofit organizations.
“But, of course, the numbers that we’re looking at right now, of the overcommitment of the ARPA monies of more than $86 million — and I’m also looking at the local funds that are negative $21 million or $34 million — it’s all very alarming,” she said.
But she added that it is “comforting” that a fiscal response team and the Legislature are “willing to go back in there, review the numbers again, conduct further analyses of all the expenses, take a look at all the reimbursements that are supposed to be filed with the federal grantors, so that we can recover those monies for the local accounts and isolate specific grant monies.
These include funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, ARPA, and other funding through the Public Assistance Office.
Deleon Guerrero said in doing so, “we could clearly distinguish the exact expenses for these particular funding programs, so that we can truly come down to the real value of how much negative overcommitment of ARPA monies are we looking at, and how much of the negative values for the local funds as well.”
She said these include the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds, roughly $93 million, that provided assurance for the retirees’ 25% benefit.
She noted that the FY 2023 budget was passed with assurance from then-Secretary of Finance Atalig that the retirees would receive their 25% benefit.
Under a settlement agreement approved by the federal court, the CNMI government is required to pay 75% of the retirees’ pension.
Deleon Guerrero said she is pleased that the Palacios-Apatang administration is allowing the Legislature access to the Munis system to analyze the numbers, in hopes of clearly identifying all values associated with the deficit.
Speaker Villagomez, for his part, said the House is standing by, ready to work.
“I think this is one of the first meetings where they’re just going to touch on some stuff, but we’re standing by. When more details come out, of course, we’re ready to work on it and work with the administration to tackle whatever issues that need to be tackled regarding the budget,” he said.
