REPRESENTATIVE Corina Magofna on Wednesday prefiled House Bill 22-97, which would require legislative appropriation for all “non-locally sourced” funds including federal monies such as those provided to the CNMI by the American Rescue Plan Act.
The measure states that “any expenditure of non-locally sourced funding, especially from the federal government, must be approved by the Legislature.”
But respectful of the fact that federal programs are well-established and there is an established relationship between federal agencies and their local grantees, the bill would “expressly exempt federal grant money that is earmarked for certain beneficiaries where the provisions of the grant are clear and not subject to reprogramming by the governor for instance. So the bill, if enacted into law, does not apply to the Public School System and its federal grants, Northern Marianas College, and other autonomous agencies. Further, the bill does not apply to federal funds where federal law preempts local law in terms of the expenditure authority or the appropriation of funds.”
To ensure compliance, the bill would require the public auditor to establish a task force to monitor expenditure of all non-locally sourced funds for compliance with the terms of certification “and shall report on the task force’s findings quarterly to the Legislature.”
Also, unlike other budgetary provisions that are without penalties or any form of legal consequences, the bill “provides that anyone that violates the provisions regarding expending funds shall be guilty of a felony punishable by no less than five years and not more than 20 years imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than $10,000, or both in addition to being jointly or severally liable for the amounts that were expended in violation of this Act. Anyone that fails to comply with the certification provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by at least one year in prison and a fine of not less than $1,000.”
If enacted into law, H.B. 22-97 would give the Legislature expenditure authority over non-locally sourced funds including ARPA funds, via either House joint resolution or Senate joint resolution.
House Floor Leader Ralph Yumul, an independent, and Democrat Leila Fleming Staffler are the bill’s co-sponsors.
Magofna, a Democrat, said she expects that more House members will support the measure.
In March 2021, the House leadership introduced a bill that would require legislative appropriation for ARPA funds. The vote on the measure was 10 in favor and 10 against.
Since then, however, four House Republicans had left their party to support the independent candidacies of two other former Republicans, Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, who is running for governor, and his running mate, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang.
