The government’s new budget is $15.5 million less than the continuing resolution of $163.5 million under the revised budget passed for FY 2006. The current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
Governor Benigno R. Fitial said House Bill 16-213, or the Appropriations and Budget Authority Act of 2009, is now Public Law 16-32.
It took the House two tries to override the governor’s veto of the budget bill.
First to cut
Lawmakers from both houses of the Legislature cut their annual miscellaneous expenses by over 36 percent to $99,114.35 each from a high of $155,000 during previous years.
Each lawmaker is paid $39,600 annually and is entitled to miscellaneous funds to cover their offices’ expenses.
The House and the Senate leadership, which used to get about $400,000 annually, reduced their appropriations to $110,404.
The Legislative Bureau, which under the newly passed budget is given discretion to adjust its expenses based on its spending limit, implemented a 10 percent wage cut as early as January, employees told the Variety.
The FY 2009 budget identified a total of $160.721 million in available resources.
Of the amount, $3.463 million will be transferred to other funds like the cigarette excise tax, tobacco control, the solid waste revolving fund and the deportation fund.
An additional $7.5 million was allocated for debt service payments for the CNMI’s various bonds and $1.7 million will go to the Marianas Public Lands Trust for its money that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. used as down payment for Aggreko’s generators.
The central government will be left with $148 million.
The Department of Public Lands, which gets its revenues from public land leases, is separately budgeted for $3.093 million.
Autonomous government agencies also have their separate budgets for the current fiscal year.
Hiring limit
Under the new budget law, the government can only hire 4,021 full-time employees. They are budgeted to be paid just $106 million — way below the previous years’ appropriations.
The government’s total utility budget is just $8.9 million.
Funds earmarked for utilities cannot be reprogrammed under the new budget law.
A new government office with an initial operations fund of $100,000 was also created.
Section 204 of P.L. 16-32 allocates $100,000 “to hire additional compensation to nurse practitioners” and an executive director for the Commonwealth Board of Nurse Examiners.
The executive branch is limited to only $49.9 million for FY 2009.
The agencies and their budgets for FY 2009 are as follows: Judiciary — $3.57 million; Legislature — $6.13 million; U.S. Representative — $305,984; Office of the Governor — $9.19 million; Office of the Attorney General — $3.371 million; Department of Commerce — $853,743; Department of Community and Cultural Affairs — $2.145 million; Department of Corrections — $3.486 million; Department of Finance — $4.792 million; Department of Labor — $1.6 million; Department of Lands and Natural Resources —$2.625 million; Department of Public Health — $32.537 million; Department of Public Safety —$6.104 million; Department of Public Works — $3.9 million; Tinian municipal government — $8.404 million; Rota municipal government — $8.404 million; Saipan mayor’s office and municipal council — $1.8 million.
Different government boards and commissions will get $546,790 this fiscal year while various independent agencies will receive $2.4 million.
The Compact-Impact funds, amounting to around $5 million, will also be added to the budget of some government entities like Public Health.
