House Ways and Means Committee Chairman John Paul P. Sablan, right, listens to Senate Vice President Karl King-Nabors, left, at the conclusion of a bicameral conference committee meeting in the House chamber on Tuesday. Also in photo are Rep. Joel Camacho and Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
THE House Ways and Means Committee started the budget review process on Rota to “bridge the gap” between the funding proposed by the municipal and central governments, according to the panel’s chairman, Rep. John Paul P. Sablan.
Sablan and other committee members were on Rota last week for a two-day budget hearing. They will be on Tinian on Monday and Tuesday next week. Afterward, the committee will schedule a budget hearing with officials of the Saipan and Northern Islands municipal governments.
The committee wants to come up with its version of the fiscal year 2026 budget measure by either the end of July or the first week of August, Sablan said in an interview on Tuesday.
He noted that in the past, the budget process in the Legislature began with hearings on the budget proposals of departments and agencies under the executive branch.
Budget hearings for the municipalities were typically held at the tail end of the budget deliberations.
“It is my intent this time to start with the senatorial districts so that I can allow the committee to hear the deficiencies or hear from municipal leaders what kind of support they have been getting from the central government. It is good to hear that first before we call in the department heads so that we can raise the right questions,” Sablan said.
“Though we are islands separated by waters, we are one Commonwealth. We must continue building bridges to ensure no municipality is left behind,” he added.
The CNMI government has until Sept. 30, 2025, to enact a new balanced fiscal year budget and prevent a partial shutdown.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios has submitted a proposed FY 2026 budget with a “total identified revenue” of $179,701,969 — more than $20 million above the FY 2025 budget.
He has also encouraged lawmakers “to collaborate closely with the Administration to thoroughly evaluate existing revenue streams and identify opportunities for innovative, sustainable revenue-generating measures.”
