Six or three-fourths of the nine-member Senate voted in favor of Senate Legislative Initiative 16-13 sponsored by Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan.
Senate Vice President Felix Mendiola, Covenant-Rota, Sen. Paterno Hocog, R-Rota, and Sen. Henry San Nicolas, Covenant-Tinian, were excused during yesterday’s session.
Fourteen of the 20-member House of Representatives must vote in favor of the initiative before it can be placed on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general elections.
Pangelinan said the CNMI’s deficit should have been retired as early as 1985.
However, unfavorable economic circumstances made this impossible.
She’s hoping that the initiative, if ratified by voters, would help address the issue.
The initiative seeks to repeal Section 6 of Article 10 of the CNMI Constitution. A new Section 6 would be introduced entitled “Fiscally Responsible Spending and Deficit Reduction.
This proposed new section will mandate the secretary of finance to certify to the Legislature by April 30 of each year the estimated revenues for the following fiscal year.
Revised estimates at the end of each fiscal quarter will also be certified to the Legislature.
Reserve funds are proposed to be set aside so that spending in any fiscal quarter does not exceed revenues available for that period.
Additionally, the finance secretary will identify the commonwealth’s debt and deficit obligations existing in any year which will also be certified to the Legislature by April 30 of each year.
These should include: debt evidenced by bonds issued by the commonwealth or any of its agencies; unpaid obligations to present or former government employees; unpaid awards issued by a court against the commonwealth government or any of its agencies; compensation for land taken for public use; and any other debt or deficit arising out of prior year government operations.
To reduce the government’s debt and deficit obligations, the budget or continuing resolution in any year will not provide full payment of the principal and interest payments on bonds.
Payments for the Retirement Fund should be proportionately allocated, including one-tenth of the outstanding balance of the past due obligation, among other conditions.
The initiative also seeks to empower the governor reprogramming authority but within the overall proportional reductions that allow the secretary of finance to meet payment obligations set forth in the bill.
