BY a vote of 15 to 1, the House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected the Senate version of House Bill 22-74 or the government budget for fiscal year 2022 that will start on Oct. 1.
Without a new balanced budget on or before that date, there will be a partial government shutdown.
Also Tuesday, Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez named House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona, Reps. Tina Sablan, Leila Staffler and John Paul Sablan to the bicameral conference committee that will draft a budget bill version acceptable to both houses.
The Senate is expected to announce the names of its conferees this week.
Rep. Patrick San Nicolas, of Tinian cast the lone vote against the rejection of H.B. 22-74 on Tuesday. Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, Reps. Joel Camacho and Joseph Flores were excused.
Manglona, in his remarks, said his committee appreciates the Senate’s approval of certain provisions that the House proposed, but, he added, his committee is concerned about certain provisions in the Senate version.
He is referring to the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the “salary adjustment” of cabinet members.
Manglona said current law caps the salaries of government officials.
In addition, he said the Senate took out the $2.6 million subsidy for Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
Rep. John Paul Sablan, for his part, said although there are Senate amendments he agrees with, like the restoration of funding for the scholarship office, “there are amendments that I don’t support and one of them is the removal of the $2.6 million subsidy for CHCC.”
House Minority Leader Angel Demapan also does “not appreciate the removal of the CHCC subsidy funds” which he finds “hard to swallow at this point.”
The Senate also included a provision that proposes to increase to $32,918 from $29,400 the salary of Delia Magofna, a judicial assistant of Associate Judge Joseph Camacho.
Sonia Camacho, the director of courts for the CNMI judiciary, appeared before the House on Tuesday to request that the item be stricken out because it was “incorrect.”
H.B. 22-74 appropriates $103.3 million of the $144.8 million in projected local revenue for FY 2022 while Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’s ARPA spending plan amounts to $175 million.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona speaks during a House session on Tuesday.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona, center, with Rep. Patrick San Nicolas, right, and Rep. Angel Demapan, left, during a break from a House session on Tuesday.
