TINIAN Mayor Edwin P. Aldan on Friday said the House of Representatives failed to do its due diligence when it passed its version of the budget bill for political reasons.
“As the mayor, my biggest responsibility is to ensure…the welfare of the people of Tinian,” he said during the public comment portion of the Senate session at the Tinian courthouse. “Although I’ve already testified before the House and Senate during budget hearings, I believe that it is my duty to once again speak before the Senate to aggressively advocate for the continued employment of our current government employees.”
He said, “For the past few weeks, the governor and the House of Representatives have been in an all-out media war regarding the fiscal year 2023 budget. As a former member of the Legislature, I truly understand the politics behind the formulation and passing of the budget during an election year. However, there should never be any reason for political differences to cause the termination and financial hardship of current government employees. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the House version of the budget will do if passed as proposed.”
He said, the House Ways and Means Committee held on Sept. 16 a press conference “justifying their budget.”
In that press conference, he added, “the House majority said their budget bill would not have an effect on existing employees of Tinian and Rota. The House majority members continued to defend the budget to the media, insisting that they did their due diligence in formulating this budget. As the mayor of Tinian, I can state with absolute certainty that this is not correct,” he said.
Aldan said the House budget bill “would lead to the termination of current employees on Tinian.”
He said the House would reduce the number of full-time equivalent or FTE positions without identifying who would be terminated.
For example, he said the House version gives the Tinian Department of Commerce three FTEs, but the department actually has five FTEs.
“If the House version passes, two civil service employees will be terminated on Oct. 1. Worse yet, the House budget doesn’t even identify which positions will be terminated, leaving the department in disarray,” the mayor said.
Additionally, he said, the House version of the budget provides the mayor’s office with 114 FTEs, but his office has 133 FTEs.
“To use a phrase of the House majority, ‘the numbers do not lie,’ and in this case, it is clear that the House did not do their due diligence as it pertains to Tinian’s current employees. If the House version is passed, it will have dire consequences [for] many Tinian government employees and their families, which is totally unacceptable,” the mayor said.
Aldan also expressed concern over the $800,000 difference in the proposed budgets for Tinian and Rota.
“Never in CNMI history can I remember that Tinian and Rota budgets have differed by $800,000. As I am not sure of the reason for this considerable difference, I am only left with the assumption that it was for political reasons,” he added.
He also noted that the House version of the bill reduced the Tinian Department of Public Safety budget “by nearly $600,000, or 35%.”
“Again, I can’t comprehend how such a drastic cut to the most essential department makes any sense,” he said. “Essentially, the House version as it pertains to this [provision] is irresponsible and borders on negligence as it terminates current employees and reduces operations to a level that will definitely affect the safety of our people and the delivery of essential public services,” Aldan added.
“In closing, I know that we are only… days away from the end of the fiscal year and tremendous pressure will be placed on the Legislature to pass a budget in time to prevent a government shutdown. I would like to ask the Senate to rise above the politics and prioritize the continued employment of our people and reinstate the budget to a level where we can effectively deliver public service to our people,” the mayor said.
The Senate on Friday unanimously passed its version of the budget bill, in the form of House Bill 22-116, House Draft 2, Senate Substitute 1. The bill is now with the House, which will hold an emergency session at 2 p.m. today, Tuesday, Sept. 27.
To avoid a partial government shutdown, the House and the Senate must pass a balanced budget and Gov. Ralph DLG Torres must sign it into law before the beginning of the new fiscal year on Saturday, Oct. 1.
