The House Committee on Ways and Means said House Bill 16-229 — which seeks to establish the Office of Grants Management under the Office of the Governor — should be passed.
“The commonwealth ranks amongst the lowest in direct federal expenditures when compared to other territories of the United States. By establishing an Office of Grants Assistance within the Office of Management and Budget, the commonwealth stands to benefit by maximizing all grants available,” the panel said in its report about H.B. 16-229.
Rep. Victor B. Hocog, Ind.-Rota and the vice chairman of the committee, sponsored the bill, which is principally tasked to establish a database of federal grants that the CNMI currently receives, as well as those that can still be tapped for the islands’ development.
According to the committee report, the CNMI has yet to fully take advantage of federal grants offered, particularly that of the Federal Transit Administration.
FTA grants are apportioned to urbanized areas utilizing a formula based on population, population density and other factors associated with transit service and ridership, the report added.
For areas like the CNMI with less than 200,000 in population, the governor decides its distribution.
The report said within the FTA are a number of grants which could potentially be made available for the CNMI like Statewide Planning and Research, Rural and Small Urban Areas, Rural Transit Assistance, Buses and Bus Facilities, Clean Fuels Formula Program and Transit Cooperative Research Program.
Four bills were separately introduced during the 13th, 14th and 15th Legislatures but none was signed into law.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan and chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, said H.B. 16-229 should be considered for passage this time to help the CNMI address its financial problems in providing quality service to the public.
“The enactment of House Bill 16-229 will incur additional costs to the CNMI government as it establishes a new office under the Office of the Governor. With this new office, personnel expenses as well as operating costs will require funding,” Yumul and other committee members said in their report.
“However, the expenses of this office will be derived from the pool of indirect costs received from all grant funds awarded to the CNMI government…. Compared to the financial and overall benefits the commonwealth stands to achieve, any costs that will be incurred will be minimal,” they added.
