Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, in an interview on Friday said her proposal may also be implemented by government boards.
Government boards, which are all based on Saipan, pay for the per diem and airfare of their Rota and Tinian members.
On Oct. 31, the 20-member House of Representatives held a session on Rota.
Sablan earlier said that holding off-island sessions “doesn’t make fiscal sense” in light of the government’s financial difficulties.
She noted that each of the 18 Saipan members had to pay over $200 for airfare, food and hotel accommodations.
But Sablan said she went to Rota anyway “to see what was going to happen there.”
Lawmakers — and government boards — have been known to hold off-island sessions or meetings when deciding on controversial issues.
But Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said they did not act on any “controversial” measures on Rota.
“It’s my responsibility to be there on Rota,” Sablan said. “I went there on the day of the session and left afterward.”
To reduce government travel expenses, she is now looking into the feasibility of allowing Rota and Tinian members to attend sessions by the use of modern communications technology, such as teleconferencing.
“They say it’s a tradition to bring the session to Rota and Tinian, but it’s not fiscally sound,” Sablan said. “Hawaii’s state legislature holds sessions only in the state capital, Honolulu, and not on the other islands. The U.S. Congress itself does not go to each of the 50 states.”
Fourteen House members attended the Rota session, including Sablan. Absent were Minority Leader Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan, Saipan Republican Reps. Dave M. Apatang, Diego T. Benavente, Heinz S. Hofschneider, Joseph C. Reyes and Stanley T. Torres.
The final rally of Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio was held on Saipan on the same day.
The GOP’s congressional delegate, Tenorio narrowly lost to former Election Commission Executive Director Gregorio C. Sablan.
