In his legal analysis, San Nicolas said two public laws may have reclassified “interest income” to “principal” when it appropriated interest earned from MPLT’s investments under the clause “as an addition to principal.”
But he said the Constitution was very explicit in stating that only interest earned can be channeled to the government coffers but not the assets or principal, as they are deemed to be invested.
San Nicolas said an Oct. 28, 2009 letter from MPLT Chairman Alvaro Santos to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, confirmed his legal interpretation.
In that letter, Santos said MPLT was legally prohibited from transferring any interest income withheld until the Legislature repealed Public Laws 10-29 and 12-27, which reclassified withheld interest income as principal.
The administration’s contention was that the $4.1 million was MPLT’s earnings from the refinanced MPLT-Northern Marianas Housing Corp. loan.
The MPLT money in question was identified as among the government resources for the FY 2009 budget of $148.5 million designed to avoid further furloughs among rank and file contract employees.
The issue was tackled at length before the House held its last session yesterday afternoon.
The occasion was marked with expressions of gratitude and apologies among the House members.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, gave each lawmaker a chance to speak.
