GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Friday said he’s “okay” with the Senate amendments to House Bill 23-77, which would allow a $15 million revolving line of credit from the Marianas Public Land Trust to the CNMI government.
The House of Representatives earlier last week unanimously passed the Senate version of H.B. 23-77, which no longer allows MPLT to withhold public land interest income due to the general fund as guaranteed payment.
This means that the CNMI government will have to pay MPLT with funds reimbursed by the federal government.
The governor told reporters he is inclined to sign the bill into law. He said is he waiting for the Office of the Attorney General to complete its review of the measure. Then, he will meet with the MPLT board members to hear what they have to say about it. The trustees are making sure that they are doing their due diligence, he added.
“I think we are in pretty good shape, and we will get through this. I thank the Legislature for putting all the efforts because this is critical — it will make things easier,” Palacios said.
Introduced by Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez in September, H.B. 23-77 would authorize a public debt and obligation to MPLT in an amount not to exceed $15 million, with an interest rate of 5.5% per annum.
The governor earlier stated that the line of credit “will help assist in expediting important capital improvement projects, including much-needed infrastructure projects, that will ultimately benefit the current and future generations of CNMI residents.”
The Office of Planning and Development, for its part, told lawmakers that some of these projects were on hold due to a lack of local funds to pay the contractor.
The federal grants for the projects are provided on a reimbursement basis, which requires the CNMI government to front the cost.
