Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, said she will formally introduce on the floor House Bills 16-266 and 16-267 during their next session.
House Bill 16-266 is a bill for an act “to provide guidelines for the expenditure of funds from legislators’ operational account.”
In 2002, the CNMI Public Auditor upon review of the legislative subsistence allowances recommended that more stringent documentation requirements be established for legislative travel.
The Legislature has authorized by rule, the provisions of subsistence allowances, including housing for members traveling away from their home islands within the Commonwealth.
Sablan said the proposed bill includes “a prohibition on government-paid cell phones and vehicles… a prohibition on housing allowances and subsistence allowances for legislators… the application of standard government compensation rates and reporting requirements to legislators for official travel within and outside of the Commonwealth… and a bar on solicitation; and penalties for violations…”
House Bill 16-267 proposes to create a new Marpi Protected Area, to be restored and managed for conservation purposes by the Department of Lands and Natural Resources.
In preparation for the Marpi Village Homestead Project, a total area of 624,000 square meters in the Marpi Area–a “protected area” had been designated for homestead development by the Department of Public Lands and was cleared of native and secondary forest for the purposes of unexploded ordinance removal.
