THE Senate on Monday unanimously passed its version of House Bill 22-95, which would fund and distribute bonuses for CNMI government retirees.
The Senate substitute bill is based on a floor amendment offered by Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan.
The original House bill proposed to take a total of $2.6 million from the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Department of Finance and the governor’s discretionary funds to bankroll the $1,000 bonus for each retiree.
Sablan noted that MVA and the Department of Finance had said that taking their funds “would really impact their operations.”
Legislative Bureau fiscal analyst Dave Demapan, Secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig and his team, together with the Senate legal counsel, reviewed the government budget and identified alternative funding sources for the retirees’ bonuses.
Sablan said these were “personnel lapses and they are enough to cover the cost of these bonuses.
Personnel lapses are funds that may have been “over-appropriated” or are not being used, he added.
“And, of course, we do have the [American Rescue Plan Act] funds that could fund certain activities in the government, so we did have that…to make sure that none of these entities…were affected. So, that’s where we found these funds: through a lot of communication with the secretary of Finance and his team to ensure that we find available funds for the retirees’ bonuses.”
He added, “We’re happy that they finally came up with the numbers. It took them several days. We wanted to make sure that none of the operations were affected and that we can move forward in providing…assistance to our people [in the] departments, as well as giving our retirees their well-deserved bonus.”
Sablan is hoping “that the House receives the Senate substitute and we can once and for all agree and get the retirees their well-deserved bonus so that we can move on with a lot of the other legislative business that we have.”
Senate legal counsel Antonette Villagomez, for her part, noted that the original House bill included the retiree bonuses under “other programs,” whereas the schedule for the budget had it listed under “independent programs.”
The Senate added new language to the substitute bill for consistency.
Villagomez also said that the original House bill did not discuss how the funds for the retirees’ bonuses would be distributed. The new version does, she added.
Minority bloc Sens. Edith Deleon Guerrero and Paul A. Manglona each raised concerns on “backfilling” certain items, but they were assured that there is funding for non-government entities.
Independent Sen. Teresita Santos asked whether the bill would affect the merit increases for furloughed civil service employees who have been recalled.
It would not, Sen. Victor Hocog replied, citing a recent discussion with Secretary Atalig.
Santos also asked whether the entities that would be affected by the Senate version of H.B. 22-95 were consulted, specifically the municipal governments.
The other members replied that it is only fair that all municipalities contribute to the retirees’ bonuses, which were first announced in mid-December.
H.B. 22-95, SS1 now goes to the House for action.
The Senate holds a session on Capital Hill Monday.
