THE House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously adopted House Concurrent Resolution 22-2 agreeing with the $101.35 million projected revenue that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres identified as available for government appropriation in his fiscal year budget submission on April 1, 2022.
The resolution was introduced by the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Donald Manglona.
Rep. Edwin Propst was excused from the session.
The amount in the governors’ budget submission is part of the $150.4 million total budgetary resources projected for FY 2023.
These include the following:
• $3.6 million and $3.3 million for the payment of 2007A and 2007B refunding bond.
• $39 million for the Settlement Fund obligation.
• $2.8 million for the 2020 pension obligation bond payment.
• $213,325 for Customs, Immigration and Quarantine.
• $5.4 million for Department of Public Lands.
The governor’s FY 2023 budget proposal included his American Rescue Plan Act spending plan.
He took into account Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig’s report that the 25% of the retirees’ pension “would be completely dependent on the Casino BGRT.”
He said should this source of revenue reach a standstill, it would be essential for the CNMI to focus on other avenues for revenue generation.
According to the governor, Finance’s FY 2023 revenue forecasts “factor in historical contexts when the CNMI did not have the casino industry and the tourism sector was not at its peak.”
H.C.R. 22-2 states that the Legislature “desires to approve the resources which are available for appropriation in FY 2023 less debt service previously appropriated.”
The CNMI government must enact a fiscal year budget on or before Oct. 1, 2022 to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Reps. John Paul Sablan and Joseph Flores listen during a House session on Tuesday.
