SENATE Bill 22-3, which proposes to exempt the Northern Marianas Technical Institute from the oversight of the Office of Grants Management and State Clearinghouse, now goes to the desk of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
On Friday, all the 17 House members present voted to pass S.B. 22-3. Reps. Tina Sablan and Richard Lizama were excused.
Authored by Senate Vice President Justo S. Quitugua, S.B. 22-3 proposes to amend the law to include NMTI on the list of autonomous government agencies exempted from the oversight authority of the grants office.
These agencies are the Public School System, Northern Marianas College, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the Northern Marianas Housing Corp., the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Public Auditor and the Commonwealth Ports Authority.
The bill states that NMTI was created as a public corporation and therefore, granted certain autonomy including in its financial affairs.
According to the bill, the grants office was “established primarily to oversee federal grant programs within the executive departments and line agencies, not public corporations or autonomous agencies.”
Justo S. Quitugua
