THE House Ways and Means Committee has tentatively set May 11 for the start of the budget hearings for the fiscal year 2023 appropriation measure, Rep. Donald Manglona said.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres submitted on April 1 a $101.35 million budget for FY 2023 which starts on Oct. 1, 2022.
The figure does not include the funds set aside for the following: $3.6 million and $3.3 million for the payment of 2007A and 2007B refunding bond; $39 million for the Settlement Fund obligation; $2.8 million for the 2020 pension obligation bond payment; $213,325 for Customs, Immigration and Quarantine; and $5.4 million for Department of Public Lands.
In an interview on Tuesday, Manglona, who chairs Ways and Means, said: “We are looking at starting the budget hearings on May 11. This is still tentative. We will be working on the budget submission.”
The NMI judiciary and the Public School System are among the government entities that have already submitted their budget requests to the Legislature.
The judiciary is asking for $15.24 million. In FY 2022, it was allotted a $5.9 million budget of which $4.49 million was for personnel costs.
For its part, PSS submitted a FY 2023 spending plan for the $25 million it will receive from the CNMI government. PSS will receive the same amount from the CNMI government in FY 2022.
Of the $25 million, PSS said $14 million is for personnel, $8.5 million for all others, and $2.5 million is for utilities.
From the federal government, PSS received $160 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
PSS said $70 million of this amount will be spent in the next four years “to backfill the hole of our local budget.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona speaks during a House session last month.
