THE House of Representatives on Thursday passed House Bill 23-49 which would provide the Legislature access to the executive branch’s financial information.
All the 19 House members present voted in favor of the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Marissa Flores. Rep. Patrick San Nicolas was excused.
H.B. 23-49, which now goes to the Senate, would require the governor to provide the House speaker and Senate president access to the government’s official electronic financial and accounting application.
Such access may be limited to those functions used for viewing or generating (and not altering or entering) data or reports related to budgeting, appropriations and expenditures.
The bill would likewise require members and employees of the Legislature to participate in training in the use of the application for oversight of the budget, appropriations and expenditures.
According to the bill, in the past, the Legislature depended upon the timely and accurate presentation of data and reports from the executive branch to project revenues and government spending. As the Legislature “has recently discovered, such information may be unreliable,” the bill stated.
Right now, the CNMI government uses a financial and accounting software application called Munis to maintain current data and reports on revenue and spending. That same application provides instant data and reports for all types of financial and accounting needs.
Munis, according to Tyler Technologies, “offers fast access to information, simplified reporting, and time-saving work flow to help local governments and school districts ensure accountability, make informed business decisions, and increase financial transparency.”
H.B. 23-49 would extend “that transparency by providing guaranteed access to Munis without any middleman limiting or changing that data or reports for the Legislature in order to make accurate and timely decisions related to budgeting, appropriations and expenditures.”
