THE House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously voted to override Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’s line-item veto of a proposal to appropriate a portion of the $4 million in annual casino license fees collected from Imperial Pacific International for certain projects and the Saipan mayor’s office.
The item was vetoed by the governor when he signed House Local Bill 22-27 which is now Saipan Local Law 22-10.
Except for Rep. Edwin Propst, who was excused from the session, and Rep. Roy Ada, who was not at his desk during the roll-call vote, all the 18 House members present voted yes to override the line-item veto.
According to the CNMI Constitution, “If two-thirds of the members in each house vote upon reconsideration to pass [a vetoed] bill, item, section or part, it shall become law.”
The nine-member Senate still has to override the line-item veto before the provision can become law.
In his transmittal letter to Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez and the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation Chairman, Senate Floor Leader Vinnie Sablan, the governor said he disapproved the proposed $80,000 for the Kagman watershed project “with this critical project’s hefty needs in mind and with the assurance that related and adequate federal funding will be prioritized to accomplish this important task.”
He also vetoed the $350,000 for the mayor of Saipan’s operations, saying he “strongly recommends that these funds be appropriated to support the SHEFA office so that we may continue to invest in our students and their future endeavors.”
The governor said he also encourages Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang “to maximize the available American Rescue Plan Act funding already designated to his office for its operational needs.”
Sugar Dock
Lastly, the governor said, although he acknowledges that plans were made to conduct an assessment study for Sugar Dock, “as you are well aware, on October 4, 2021, I sent a letter to the Legislature indicating that I have allocated $2 million specifically for the dock’s repair and construction in consideration of its historic, economic, and social significance for our Commonwealth and especially for the residents of Precinct 2.”
He added, “I must take this opportunity to express my great disappointment in our Precinct 2 representatives for their failure to prioritize the necessary repair and construction of the Sugar Dock amidst this funding availability and I urge the Legislature to seek available avenues to address this need as soon as possible.”
In response, Rep. John Paul P. Sablan said he, too, would like to express his own disappointment with the governor’s veto message.
He noted that just last week, he and his fellow Precinct 2 Rep. Tina Sablan led the scoping meeting for the reconstruction of the Sugar Dock which is expected to be completed by January 2023.
He said he and then-Speaker Ralph Demapan had been working together to fund the project since the 20th Legislature.
The Saipan delegation, he said, appropriated a total of $1.7 million for the project, “and the governor is aware of that.”
“So for him to say that we failed to prioritize the Sugar Dock project is very disappointing,” Rep. JP Sablan said.
Rep. Tina Sablan said she, too, is “a little troubled” by the governor’s veto message partly because it seems to indicate a “misinformed understanding” of the appropriation that has been made so far for the Sugar Dock project.
She said the governor should know that the Saipan delegation has approved over a million dollars for the Sugar Dock project. There is an assessment that is already underway, and should be completed in the next few months, she added.
That assessment, she said, will give the local delegation a much clearer understanding of how much more is needed to actually complete the project, and the governor should be aware of that.
SHEFA
Regarding funds for SHEFA, Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao said “we did give SHEFA [over] $500,000. As a matter of fact, these monies came from the…collection of the annual license fee from the casino industry.”
Unfortunately at the time, he added, the delegation did not have the chance to appropriate the $4 million from the casino annual license fee. The funds were spent on the islands’ emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, he said.
But he added that Rep. Celina Babauta’s bill, which the governor has signed into law, appropriated $2 million in casino license fees for Northern Marianas College and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
Attao said the Saipan delegation likewise allotted a total of $1.5 million to SHEFA.
Awkward
House Minority Leader Angel Demapan, who voted “yes with reservation” to the veto override, said he finds it awkward that an override involving Saipan legislation also requires action by the Senate whose six of nine members are from Rota and Tinian.
He said he hopes that the Senate would also override the line-item veto.
For her part, Rep. Corina Magofna has introduced a bill appropriating funds for the Saipan mayor’s office and the Kagman watershed project that the governor vetoed.
In the event that the Senate doesn’t act on the override, Attao said “we can move forward” with Magofna’s local bill in the Saipan delegation.
House Local Bill 22-27 was introduced by Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao and co-sponsored by Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul, House Minority Leader Angel Demapan, Reps. Vicente Camacho, Celina Babauta and Denita Yangetmai.
The House of Representatives holds a session on Tuesday.
