HOUSE Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ralph N. Yumul has drafted a House concurrent resolution to accept Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ fiscal year 2024 budget proposal in the amount of $115.4 million.
The still unnumbered resolution concurs with the governor’s total projected budgetary resources for the next fiscal year amounting to $172.5 million.
This amount will include the following earmarks:
• $85,400 for Solid Waste;
• $323,231 for the Customs, Immigration, Quarantine overtime revolving fund;
• $4,584,654 for the Marianas Visitors Authority;
• $200,000 for Revenue & Taxation enforcement;
• $6,613,926 Cigarette Tax for the government’s Group Health & Life Insurance;
• $649,780 for the Solid Waste Fund;
• $108,639 for the Developers Infrastructure Tax;
• $3,617,000 for the 2007A Refunding Bond Payment;
• $3,265,375 for the 2007B Refunding Bond Payment;
• $2,886,600 for the 2020 Pension Obligation Bond;
• $822,753 for the Marianas Public Land Trust Loan; and
• $34 million for the Settlement Fund.
The resolution states that the Legislature “desires to approve the resources which are available for appropriation for fiscal year 2024 less debt service previously appropriated, and urges the governor to submit a report as soon as possible setting forth any amendments or changes to the budget including actual revenues and expenditures to date for FY 2023, any policy changes proposed since the May 1, 2023, letter submittal of the FY 2024 proposed budget.”
In an interview, Yumul said there could be some items and figures that needed to be verified before he can introduce the resolution, hopefully in the next House session.
Ralph N. Yumul
