Two of the three vetoes were based on constitutional defects.
It will now be up to the president to implement these new laws or to take the issue to the Supreme Court which will determine whether they are in conflict with the Constitution.
Enacted into law were:
• Congressional Act 15-87, “to appropriate the sum of $1,289,109 from the general fund…for the purpose of funding the expenditures incurred under the declaration of emergency declared by the president on Dec. 29, 2008, and for other purposes.”
There were differing opinions on what needed to be done to clear up the funding issues left from the emergency declaration.
• C.A. 15-88, “to further amend Title 52 of the [FSM Code]…by amending Section 405 to reduce the minimum premium contribution for health insurance of participating agencies or participating businesses from 52 to 50 percent of the premium payment for their eligible employees, and for other purposes.”
Mori believes that there is a constitutional difficulty in the “unequal treatment” of the employees participating in the plan.
• C.A. 15-84, “to further amend Title 18 of the [FSM Code]…by amending Section 202 to designate Northwest Polowat harbor, Oroluk, Hauk, and Onoun airstrip atolls as official ports of entry in the Federated States of Micronesia, and for other purposes.”
Lawmakers said this Act “would open up all kinds of economic development for this nation.”
But they did not give any clear examples of what these are or how much would be coming in through these new ports, since there has been no official study of this issue.
