The Senate last night, by an 8-1 vote, passed the House budget bill but with amendments.
This means that there will be no budget today and that nonessential agencies will remain shut down.
Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, Ind.-Saipan, was the only senator who voted no.
Rita Castro, one of the nonessential employees affected by the shutdown, broke into tears as she urged senators to pass the House budget bill.
During the House session, which started at 11 a.m., some government employees and officials told the representatives to “please set aside your differences and pass the budget.”
Former Speaker Pete R. Guerrero said the people cannot afford another day of shutdown.
It is irresponsible for any lawmaker not to pass the budget, he added.
Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan noted the public outcry as thousands of employees and their families have been affected by the shutdown.
Edith Deleon Guerrero, one of the affected employees, told senators that “children are now hurting.”
Some students and new graduates looking for jobs were having a hard time because the government offices that could help them were closed, she added.
Many parents may end up fighting over the lack of food on the table, she said.
Retirement Fund Chairman Sixto Igisomar said the shutdown is creating bigger problems for the retirees, active employees and their loved ones.
New budget bill
The new version of the budget bill introduced by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, was passed by the House as amended by Rep. Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan.
The amendment reduced the House and Senate leadership accounts from $200,000 to $138,000, with the difference of $124,000 going to Northern Marianas College.
The vote on the amendment was tied at 9-9. Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, was absent, while Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, abstained.
Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, who originally said “no” to the amendment, broke the tie by changing his vote to “yes.”
Aside from Deleon Guerrero and Tenorio, those who supported the amendment were House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan, Reps. Francisco S. Dela Cruz, R-Saipan, Trenton B. Conner, R-Tinian, Antonio P. Sablan, R-Saipan, Ramon A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan, Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, Teresita A. Santos, Ind-Rota, and Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan.
Those who voted no aside from Basa were Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, House Floor Leader George N. Camacho, Ind.-Saipan, Reps. Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan, Eliceo D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan, Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan, and Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant-Saipan.
Cabrera then urged his colleagues to vote on the budget bill so the people in the gallery could go back to work.
But Benavente said the bill was similar to what the House minority bloc and the Senate earlier opposed.
He said they should instead pass something that the Senate was likely to approve.
Ogumoro, for her part, told the minority bloc members that if they were really concerned about protecting government employees, they should pass a balanced budget.
“The only way to make it balanced is a 16-hour cut and 13 unpaid holidays. I agree that we should not further debate on the issue. I move to end debate. If we continue debating, we will just prevent people from going back to work,” she said.
The administration submitted a balanced budget, Ogumoro added. She urged the House members to pass the budget so they could work on a revenue bill and a supplemental budget later.
Santos said the reprogramming provision of the bill was detrimental to the agencies and other government entities on Rota.
When Iguel criticized the appropriations for Tinian and Rota, Santos replied, “No man is an island.”
The vote on the budget was 12-7.
Those who voted no were Benavente, Conner, Dela Cruz, Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, Sablan, Santos and Tebuteb.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, in an interview last night said the Senate proposed a 12-hour cut and not the eight-hour it previously recommended.
They also agreed to the 13 unpaid holidays as proposed by the administration and the House leadership, and the $138,000 leadership account that the House passed.
Manglona said he and his colleagues decided to “give in further again” so that government employees could go back to work.
He expressed confidence that the House would pass the Senate version of the budget today.
