THE House-Senate conference committee on Friday adopted a new and compromise version of the fiscal year 2022 budget bill.
H.B. 22-74 HD3, SD1, CCS1 was immediately transmitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate, which are expected to hold sessions this week to pass the measure. Without a new and balanced budget by Oct. 1, 2021, there will be a partial government shutdown.
The most contentious budget item was the Senate decision to scrap the $2.6 million subsidy that the House proposed for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
Sen. Victor B. Hocog, the chairman of the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee, said CHCC is an autonomous agency that is supposed to be self-sufficient.
Moreover, he said, CHCC stands to receive funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and should have enough funding.
Rep. Tina Sablan said CHCC is “doing great…with the resources that they have, but we have also taken into account the changes that have been happening right now, or and the possible crisis that are looming,” she said referring to the medical referral program, which the Office of the Attorney General said is under CHCC.
Hocog said, “Find me another [government] entity to cut but not Rota and Tinian. You want us to cut, but I will not consent to cut Rota and Tinian.”
But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona and Sablan said the House was not proposing to cut the budgets of Rota and Tinian, but added that they are hoping that the Senate would consider meeting them halfway.
Manglona initially agreed to cut the proposed CHCC subsidy to $1.3 million.
He then called for a recess until 3 p.m. During recess, the conferees worked on the numbers.
When the meeting resumed, Manglona proposed to give CHCC a subsidy of $1,083,249 taken from various accounts including the governor’s discretionary funds, the Office of the Attorney General, CNMI Scholarship Office and the CNMI Supreme Court.
The Senate proposal to allot $1.58 million for municipal operations and local scholarship assistance would be retained.
The conferees then unanimously voted to approve this proposed amendment to the budget.
They also unanimously voted to strike out the provision that says: “The Legislature concurs with the governor’s use of ARPA funds, as provided in Volume 4 of the governor’s annual budget submission of April 2021 as amended in July 2021, and the American Rescue Plan Act, to fund salary adjustments for government employees for FY 2022.”
The other conferees were Rep. Leila Staffler, Senate Vice President Justo Quitugua and Sen. Frank Q. Cruz.
The budget bill proposes to appropriate $103.3 million of $144.8 million in projected local revenue for FY 2022. Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ FY 2022 budget submission also includes his spending plan for $175 million in ARPA funds from the federal government.
House Ways and Means Commitee Chairman Donald Manglona speaks during the bicameral conference committee meeting on Friday in the House chamber.
Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee Chairman Victor B. Hocog gestures as he speaks during the bicameral conference committee meeting on Friday in the House chamber.
Rep. Tina Sablan, right, explains the House proposal to provide a subsidy to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
