Reps. Blas Jonathan Attao and Patrick San Nicolas confer before the start of the House emergency session on Thursday.
Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez presides over the House emergency session on Thursday.
ACTING Gov. David M. Apatang on Thursday signed House Bill 23-104 into law, appropriating $5.2 million for the 25% benefit of government retirees.
The funding source is the dividend collected by the Commonwealth Economic Development Authority from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios was on Guam on an official trip.
Authored by Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao, H.B. 23-104 is now Public Law 23-18.
Apatang signed the bill within hours of passing in the House of Representatives by a unanimous vote of the 17 House members present during an emergency session at 10 a.m.
Reps. Denita Yangetmai and Roy Ada were excused while Rep. Joseph Flores was not in the House chamber during the roll call vote. A retired police officer, Flores told Variety prior to the session that he could not vote on the bill because he is receiving his retirement pension in lieu of his salary as a lawmaker.
Before the roll call vote on H.B. 23-104, Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao noted that the Senate, in amending the measure, removed the provision stating that CEDA will be repaid “subject to the availability of funds.”
He said the bill’s amended version will increase the CNMI government’s debt service by $5.2 million, but “at the end of the day, it did not change the intent of the bill, which is to get that $5.2 million for the 25% of the retirees’ pension.”
“With that being said,” he added, “I’m asking the members to please support this bill as amended by the Senate. April 15 is rolling out very, very close. It is not a perfect bill, but the intent is there.”
The governor earlier said that due to a lack of funding, the retirees’ 25% benefit would be suspended beginning April 15, 2024.
But if H.B. 23-104 becomes law, he added, it would allow the 25% payment to last until Aug. 31, 2024.
After the House passed the bill, Palacios issued the following statement:
“I am glad that the Legislature acted swiftly and decisively in passing legislation that would allow the continuation of the 25% pension payments to retirees.
“Since the beginning of this administration, Lt. Governor Apatang and I have been committed to continuing the 25% pension payments to the retirees. We thank the House and Senate members for their work in expediting the passage of H.B. 23-104, which also demonstrates the Legislature’s efforts to ensure the financial security of many individuals who have dedicated their careers to public service.
“As I’ve stated before, the leaders of the Commonwealth bear a collective obligation to safeguard our retirees’ benefits and give them the financial peace of mind they deserve.
“The legislation sends a clear message to our retirees: we value your service, and we will continue to work together to protect our retirees’ livelihoods.”
The 25% benefit is not required by the 2013 agreement approved by the federal court to settle a lawsuit filed by a retiree against the CNMI government for its failure to make required payments to the NMI Retirement Fund.
But since the administration of the late Gov. Eloy S. Inos, the CNMI government has been voluntarily paying the 25% benefit, which costs about $13 million a year.
