FINANCE Secretary David DLG Atalig said his department does not support House Bill 22-69, which proposes to repeal Public Law 2-4, the statute that provides for housing benefits to the governor, lt. governor, the Senate president and the House speaker.
The bill is authored by Rep. Richard Lizama and co-sponsored by the rest of the House leadership.
According to the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operation’s report on the governor’s expenditures, it has been the practice of the CNMI government to reimburse the governor and the lt. governor for the utility costs at their own residences.
Because their government-designated houses are derelict and unfit for habitation, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios live in their private residences.
But the JGO committee report stated that Public Law 2-4 does not specifically provide for government-funded utilities when public officials reside in their own private homes.
From November 2015 to February 2019, the report stated, Gov. Torres was reimbursed a total of $17,531 in utility bills for his private residence.
Commenting on H.B. 22-69, the Finance secretary said the government-assigned houses for the governor and the lt. governor are currently unfit for habitation and “will need to incur significant structural repairs and modification, at an expense the Commonwealth is unable to afford at this time.”
Atalig said utilizing the private residences of the governor and the lt. governor as their “unofficial residences” can make “significant cost-saving measures from facility rentals and other representation activities.”
He said, “The present arrangements are cost-effective and accomplish the intent of the law.”
He added that the proposal to repeal P.L. 2-4 “and its punitive political motivations against our present governor eliminate the possibility of an official residence for all future governors that may assume this vital role for our Commonwealth.”
He added, “This will put all future administrations in vastly different positions that our counterparts in the United States and the U.S. territories and undervalue the significance of an official residence for the purpose of conducting [the] duties of a popularly elected chief executive of our Commonwealth.”
Utility bills
But the bill’s author said the issue that H.B. 22-69 is addressing is not just the governor’s official residence. “It’s about the taxpayers paying for the power bills of the governor and his family at their residence where political parties are also held,” Lizama said during the House PUTC Committee meeting on Monday.
He said not everything that happens at the governor’s private residence “are part of the duties of a popularly elected executive of our Commonwealth.”
He added, “My concern here is, he can use his home for anything, for household chores and even for political party activities. Isn’t that something that we, other public servants, have to be alerted?”
Lizama said the Finance secretary “is basically saying it’s okay that taxpayers pay for the governor’s power bills at his private residence. It’s not okay.”
Public Auditor Kina Peter, in a letter to the House PUTC Committee, said: “At this time, OPA has no comments on H.B. 22-69.”
For his part, Rep. Joel Camacho suggested that the committee get a comment from the attorney general, too.
The other committee members present during the meeting on Monday were Reps. Vicente Camacho, Leila Staffler and Ivan Blanco.
The chairman of the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, Rep. Richard Lizama, center, presides over a meeting on Monday. Also in the picture are legislative assistant Jovano Taitano, left, and legal counsel Antoinette Villagomez.
