“Maybe they have another way of coming up with a balanced budget.”
The House budget proposed a 16-hour cut, but the Senate reduced this to eight. The budget bill is now with a bicameral conference committee.
Critical employees will be exempted in both versions of the budget bill.
Fitial said he is prepared to do whatever the Constitution requires him to do in case the Legislature fails to pass a balanced budget before Oct. 1.
The Constitution mandates a government shutdown if no balanced budget is passed by Oct. 1, but the governor said the Legislature must also define which essential services will have to remain open.
A bill defining what these services are remains pending in the House of Representatives.
“If they fail to do that by Oct. 1, I have to step in and provide that definition,” the governor said.
In an interview earlier this week, Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan said he doubted whether the Legislature could pass a balanced budget if lawmakers would insist on an eight-hour cut.
