Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita speaks during a press conference at the governor’s office on Monday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
IN April 2020, the CNMI, in collaboration with Graduate School USA, held a virtual Fiscal Response Summit and developed recommendations to address the mounting fiscal challenges amid Covid-19 restrictions that effectively shut down the tourism industry.
The recommendations included “right-sizing of government” and other expenditure adjustments.
“Are we revisiting those? For the most part. For the administrative changes, I believe we have taken action on those,” Department of Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita told reporters during a Monday press conference.
As Revenue and Taxation director at the time, Norita was among the summit participants, which included other CNMI officials, many of whom are still in office.
When asked which 2020 summit recommendations have been implemented so far, Norita said the government has reduced overtime, travel, and vacancies, and imposed a hiring freeze.
“I believe it’s the legislative changes that we need to consider moving forward,” she said. These include the introduction of new tax measures, amendments to the casino law, and other tax reforms, she added.
Rep. Blas Jonathan T. Attao, who co-chaired one of the summit’s two working groups, said some recommendations that would require legislation “were put on hold” when American Rescue Plan Act funds “came in.” The infusion of $500 million in ARPA funds into the CNMI economy delayed some of the summit proposals, he explained.
“That’s a very unfair question to ask at this table,” Attao said, noting that the government anticipated using federal funds to help rebuild the economy. “We did cut vacancies and other expenditures, and all government positions filled during that period were removed from the budget.”
Attao described the situation at the time as “like a double-edged sword we got.”
“We were in the summit and, all of a sudden, we had these extra monies infused into the Commonwealth, so we started moving forward with different options to improve our status on the tourism side,” he said.
Attao said they are reviewing those cost-cutting recommendations. “You can look at this budget now,” he said, referring to the FY2026 budget bill. “We removed about $3.4 million worth of vacant positions and cut the budget by $29 million to address the NMI Settlement Fund.”
He added, “It’s unfortunate, but the reality is we are here, and we have to face it. The delegate made her presence in the CNMI available today so that we can be on the same footing when she gets back to Washington, D.C., and now we need to support her as she was here to support us.”
902 talks continue
Norita announced that the CNMI panel for Section 902 talks will have a status follow-up with U.S. Department of the Interior officials to discuss immediate relief that the panel has been requesting. She said the CNMI team will also update federal counterparts on fiscal reforms being considered.
“This is a great opportunity for us to show them that we have a cohesive approach now, with the support of both houses of the Legislature, that these discussions on fiscal reforms are on the table and being considered,” Norita said.
Lt. Gov. Dennis Mendiola added, “We’re going to try and get those subsidies by showing that we are making these efforts.” He said the administration will ensure transparency so the public is aware.
“We just have to show that we can try to help ourselves by making these adjustments. That’s the goal,” Mendiola said.
Gov. David M. Apatang emphasized the urgency. “We’ve just got nowhere to go. It is very critical for all of us here. I am very happy that the Senate and House are here, and we are going to work together for our people in the Commonwealth.”
The governor added that the primary goal is to ensure fiscal responsibility. “The federal government is aware of what is happening here,” he said.
