GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres on Friday said his first-class or business class travels to the U.S. in 2017 were approved by former Secretary of Finance Larrisa Larson.
The House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations has raised concerns regarding these travels, among other public expenditures of the governor.
The panel has cited the CNMI law, Title 1, Division 7, Subsection 7407[f] of the Commonwealth Code, which states: “Travel agents issuing tickets for government travel shall only be paid at the regular economy fare or its equivalent. Any government employee who causes an airline ticket to be issued in violation of this section shall pay a civil fine of $1,000.”
In a report earlier this year the Office of the Public Auditor said, “Regulations do not appear to explicitly prohibit the purchase of first-class and business class airline tickets.”
For its part, the Department of Finance informed OPA that a proposed uniform travel policy had already been published in the Commonwealth Register, and that the department’s travel section, key management and staff had been notified about the promulgation of the uniform travel policy for adoption.
The governor and first lady Diann T. Torres’ trips in 2017 were brought up by the House panel during its recent hearings. These included travels to Portland, Oregon; Kalispell, Montana; and Boise, Idaho, costing $23,000 just for airfare, the panel said. It also noted that two personal security detail personnel were on these trips.
The governor on Friday said the purpose of these trips was to meet with U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials in Oregon and to attend the 2017 Western Governors Association in Whitefish, Montana.
The governor said he had submitted required documents for these trips, which were then approved by Larson.
He noted that for his more recent trips, such as the one to a neighboring island within the CNMI for a funeral, they were denied by the Department of Finance.
“My staff [were] just doing their [jobs],” Secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig told Variety. “They denied his request to travel…. for a funeral. Under the regulations and public laws, official travel for a funeral must be for a state funeral and only that…. So, that was denied, and I believe he still went ahead [of] his own accord.”
Governor Torres, for his part, said, “That’s fine. I’m not complaining…. If they see [that the requests are] proper, they’ll sign it…. And if they don’t see it [as] proper, then they’ll deny it,” he added.
