Sen. Mark Rudimch,c hair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means said that the committees will call first the Ministry of Finance for the hearing.
He said that both houses of Congress will be finishing the hearings in a short time.“We will be conducting back to back hearings, all day non-stop from Monday onwards,” Rudimch said.Del. Jonathan Isechal meanwhile said the joint budget hearings will be lasting for 10 days starting on July 20.It will be the Senate’s turn to initiate budget deliberation.THE proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget is $53,709,000, $5,000,000 less than the FY2009 financial package.President Johnson Toribiong said that the proposed financial package was formulated in line with his policy that the government should live within the means.The budget has been formulated in anticipation that effective Oct. 1, 2009, the funding received by Palau from the United States under the Compact of Free Association will cease.By Oct. 1, the republic will only be able to draw down $15 million from the Compact Trust Fund.Toribiong said once the U.S. Congress passes the funding for the Compact extension he will work with OEK to amend the bill or submit a supplemental budget.
