WHILE it is the common impression that all distribution of government funds in the Commonwealth shall begin in the House of Representatives, the Planning and Budgeting Act of 1983 allows the Senate to introduce and adopt a joint resolution to allow the governor to reprogram funds, Senate legal counsel Antonette R. Villagomez said in a memorandum to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider.
The Republican-led Senate recently adopted a joint resolution allowing Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to reprogram $1.3 million from the general fund and pay each retiree a $500 bonus this holiday season.
The Democrat-led House of Representatives has not acted on Senate Joint Resolution 22-5, saying there is a need for “further review” and “more information” from the Republican administration.
Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao also stated that it is the House that has the authority to move funds appropriated in a fiscal year budget.
In her memorandum, Villagomez said 1 CMC, Subsection 7402(d) allows the governor to request the Legislature for authority to reprogram funds authorized by law. The governor must submit his/her request in writing to the presiding officers of both houses.
Such request shall be subject to approval by joint resolution, not an appropriation or a revenue bill, Villagomez said.
She noted that the Senate neither introduced nor acted on an appropriation or revenue bill, but rather, introduced and adopted a joint resolution to reprogram funds, as is authorized by the Planning and Budgeting Act of 1983.
She said, if the Legislature had specifically required the governor’s request to reprogram funds to be subject to a bill instead of a joint resolution, or a House joint resolution instead of just a joint resolution, the law would have specifically stated as such.
In the past, Villagomez said, the Senate introduced and adopted joint resolutions, such as S.J.R. 14-04, which authorized an increase in the number of full-time employment positions for the Legislative Bureau from 35 to 45 as authorized under continuing appropriations pursuant to the Appropriations and Budget Authority Act of 2003; as well as S.J.R. 19-4, which authorized reprogramming authority for the governor to respond to the Typhoon Soudelor disaster and meet the Commonwealth’s 10% cost-sharing obligation.
Both joint resolutions passed both houses of the Legislature.
“Based on the foregoing reasons and pursuant to the Senate’s Constitutional authority under [Article II of the CNMI Constitution] and its 22nd Official Rules of Procedure, the Senate properly introduced and adopted Senate Joint Resolution on December 15, 2021 by a unanimous vote,” Villagomez said.
