House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez presides over a House session on Tuesday.
BJ Attao
THE House of Representatives on Tuesday passed House Bill 23-57 which would tap tax liens and gross revenue penalties to fund the Health Network Program formerly known as the medical referral services, and now under the responsibility of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
All the 17 House members present voted to pass H.B. 23-57 which was authored by Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao. House Floor Leader Edwin Propst, Reps. Julie Marie A. Ogo and Diego Vincent F. Camacho were excused.
The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would establish a Health Network Program Revolving Fund within the Department of Finance to fund the travel and housing costs of CNMI patients receiving assistance under the program.
The funding source will be “certain tax penalties and liens,” and the expenditure authority will be the CHCC’s chief executive officer.
According to H.B. 23-57, the funds shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year, and the account shall be audited annually.
Prior to the roll-call vote, Attao said the measure “does not touch anything in our general fund.” He said the funding source is money owed to the central government. Once received, it will go to the general fund to address the government’s prior obligations.
Attao said H.B. 23-57 will allot the money for the Health Network Program to fund the travel and housing costs of CNMI patients.
During a budget hearing last week, CHCC Chief Financial Officer Perlita Santos told the House Ways and Means Committee that CHCC’s funding request for the Health Network Program for fiscal year 2024 is $9 million.
