The House was supposed to act on the budget bill, H.B. 17-119 as amended by the Senate, on Thursday but this was rescheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday and, later, for 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona in a letter invited Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio to a joint session at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Manglona, Ind.-Rota, said the Senate and the House should discuss their differences until they reach a compromise on the budget.
“I know you share my concern that I and my fellow legislators are failing our people by our inability to find common ground and pass a budget,” Manglona told Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan.
Manglona said during the joint session, “we will not vote, and agree not to suggest any voting until the leadership of both houses is satisfied that we have reached an agreement.”
He added, “We reached the point where we must both give up parts of our own agenda even if it is painful to do so in the interest of eliminating the suffering of our people. Please join me in this effort.”
In an interview, Tenorio said he will not attend the joint session. The House will have its own session today, he said. Besides, he added, there is no such thing as a joint session on the budget.
Two other members of the House leadership said they, too, will not attend the joint session.
A former lawmaker who also requested anonymity said acting on an appropriation bill in a joint session is a violation of the CNMI Constitution. The budget must originate from the House, he added.
Meanwhile, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, pre-filed a new version of the budget bill, H.B. 17-121, which proposes eight unpaid holidays instead of 13, but retains the 16-hour cut recommended by the administration.
The Senate insists on an eight-hour cut, but the administration said this will result in the loss of 383 government jobs.
Basa’s new bill also removed the $750,000 appropriation that the Senate wants for the promotion of Tinian as a tourist destination, the subsidy for the charter flights from Japan to Rota, and the payment of the CNMI government’s debt to a tour agent.
Rep. Eliceo D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, said these items were not part of the budget proposal the governor submitted last April.
The government’s nonessential offices will remain closed until a new balanced budget becomes law.
