Fitial said he will review the bill first.
“But I think it’s a good idea to suspend it during austerity and then, when we lift the austerity, this suspension should also be lifted,” he said.
The program allows individuals or companies to make donations directly to schools and deduct the amount from the amount of taxes they have to pay the government.
Introduced by Sen. Juan M. Ayuyu, Ind.-Rota, S.B. 17-68 stated that during these difficult economic times, “we cannot afford tax credit which diminishes the overall money received in tax revenues.”
Public School System officials and private school principals on Wednesday warned House members about the impact on education once the ETC program is suspended.
But the House leadership, which is aligned with the governor, voted to pass the bill anyway.
Rep. Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan, defended S.B. 17-68 by saying that ETC donations usually go to private schools.
In 2009, he said, private schools got $962,000 in ETC donations while public schools received $240,000.
Deleon Guerrero claimed that suspending the program means that public schools can get their “fair share.”
But the House minority bloc members, who opposed the bill, disagreed.
Rep. Ray A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan, said suspending the ETC program would cost the government more that it could collect.
He said the estimated $2 million that the Department of Finance projected to get this year once the program is suspended will be outweighed by the cost PSS will have to shoulder once students from private schools move to public schools.
He said ETC donations help private schools meet their costs.
Without these donations, private schools may increase their fees and many parents will be forced to transfer their children to public schools which have to be funded by the CNMI government.
This will require the construction of more PSS classrooms and the hiring of more teachers.
He estimated that the additional cost to PSS may amount to $5 million.
But Fitial said PSS should not place additional burdens on the central government during these difficult economic times.
