They said a family receiving $500 in food stamps on Rota or Tinian would be lucky to walk out of the store with two and a half bags of groceries. The prices on those islands are nearly double compared to Saipan.
I’ve asked the Region IX office in San Francisco about what the CNMI can do to get additional funding for food stamps and other federal programs.
Aaccording to Region IX, the CNMI must separate the costs of commodities per island. As far as Region IX is concerned, all funding coming into the CNMI is based on Saipan’s cost of living, which is hard to use because we all know that a can of Spam on Saipan is $1.99 but $2.25 on Rota and Tinian.
The Department of Commerce must conduct a separate survey of the costs per island and then the CNMI Legislature should adopt a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to increase federal funding based on the actual costs of living on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
JOE PALACIOS
Former Aging Director
