Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, said they wanted to make sure that “everyone fully understands the budget.”
The governor’s special assistant for administration, Esther Fleming, was in the gallery when the senators deliberated on the bill.
She believes that Gov. Benigno R. Fitial will again veto the measure, which also imposes restrictions on his hiring authority.
Sen. Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, urged his colleagues to override the veto.
Fleming said the administration requested the Legislature to include the austerity Fridays and no-pay holidays in the bill, “but they did not give us that.”
Fleming said the lawmakers also did not provide the reprogramming authority requested by the governor.
“When you don’t have enough funding for government agencies it is very important that we allow the executive to be able to reprogram funds so that basic services can still be provided should we do not realize the projection,” she said.
All nine senators voted in favor of the bill, which now goes to the governor.
Sens. Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian, and Henry H. San Nicolas, Covenant-Tinian, voted “yes with reservations,” while Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, D-Saipan, voted “hard yes.”
Manglona said the bill “is better than not having a budget at all.”
Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan and the chairwoman of the Fiscal Affairs Committee, said she shares the administration’s concerns regarding the need for austerity measures. She said she will look into this issue.
