Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan, made the statement in response to a set of questions from students of Northern Marianas College.
“There is a strong set of laws already codified in the commonwealth. An effective legislator spends a lot of time reviewing legislation authored by others, listening to the issue and examining the already existing law as well as the history that created and amended it into its present form,” she said.
“Often, the new bill affecting current law is a knee-jerk reaction to the way in which the current law is affecting a single constituent or a single event. Legislation such as this seldom deserves support. Legislation such as this is more common than I would like,” she added.
Pangelinan, who will not seek a second term this November, also stressed that a lawmaker’s effectiveness is not measured by the quantity of bills he or she sponsored but how they stand on issues.
“The number of bills authored and/or the number of these bills that becomes law has nothing to do with the effectiveness of a legislator. Tracking the voting record of a legislator and getting their justification for their votes is an accurate way to measure effectiveness,” she said.
Pangelinan noted that women are still marginalized in local politics compared to the U.S. mainland where 22 percent of lawmakers are women.
“I would like to see the Legislature fully represent the demographics of the electorate, at least 50 percent female. We have young, smart, and well educated women who would be of great service to our commonwealth by exploring this calling,” she said.
Pangelinan, the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs, is behind several major pieces of legislation.
These include the measures abolishing the Marianas Public Lands Authority and establishing the Department of Public Lands within the executive branch, the Tort Reform Law, the Defined Benefit Reform Act and the Compensation of Professionals Law.
