He declined to name them but said they will discuss this issue once the fiscal year 2012 budget deliberation starts this week.
“I can’t speak for the other members but I do know there are members who voluntarily offered for a 20 percent cut in their salaries.,” he told reporters before he introduced House Bill 17-215 or the Appropriations and Budget Authority Act of 2012.
The salaries of the governor, lt. governor, lawmakers, judges, justices, and mayors are constitutionally protected.
Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, in a separate interview said he is facing a lot of financial obligations, as four of his five children are studying off-island.
He said the House members willing to volunteer a paycut either have other sources of income or do not have a lot of financial obligations.
“In my case, I honestly cannot because I am struggling too and I face a lot of debts,” he said.
Each lawmaker gets an annual salary of $39,300 and $85,000 in discretionary funds. But for FY 2012, their discretionary funds will be $51,500 only.
The FY 2012 budget indicates an allotment of $986,037 for the salary of House members, and this figure is slightly higher than last fiscal year’s $954,597.
But Basa, Covenant-Saipan, reiterated that there is no increase in their salary.
He said funding for “all others,” which are for health insurance benefits and the employer contributions to the Retirement Fund, was increased by 30 percent.
“We apologize if there was a misunderstanding about the figures. But we did clarify that on the budget that we are submitting today,” he added.
Section 10 of the CNMI Constitution’s Article II says, “An increase in salary may not apply to the Legislature that enacted it.”
The FY 2102 budget is really not much different compared to last fiscal year’s, Basa said.
“We are still going with the 16-hour cut and the unpaid holidays, but there is a condition now that if there are funds, holidays will be paid,” he added.
The House committee on Ways and Means, which he chairs, decided to just follow the administration’s submission.
They moved some figures around but the changes are “very minor,” he said.
Basa said the Public School System and Northern Marianas College will get enough to meet “the maintenance of effort that the federal government requires.”
He said they will act on the budget bill today and will make sure that “we are not thinking about a shutdown.”
He assured that the budget bill will be passed before the deadline, which is Sept. 30.
“That is our first and foremost mission. We are trying to work as cooperatively and harmoniously with the Senate as possible so that we can get a product that we are both comfortable with and meet the deadline,” he added.
