With a vote of 15-1, the House approved H.B. 17-165 which Rep. Ray N. Yumul said “is almost identical” to H.B. 17-131 that was supposed to be headed to the governor already after the Senate passed it last week.
Introduced by Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, who also authored the previous version, H.B. 17-165 no longer mentions a particular person who has yet to be paid by the government.
H.B. 17-131 specifically mentioned businessman Jack Manglona who successfully sued the government over its unpaid rent amounting to $1.8 million.
Yumul, R-Saipan, said they should wait until the Senate recalls H.B. 17-131.
But Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, assured that the Senate will recall its action.
H.B. 17-165 seeks to authorize the governor to negotiate a settlement and resolution of judgments entered against the CNMI government. Such settlement may include offsets and credits on any tax obligation or other obligations of the claimants or members of his immediate family other than cash as agreed by both parties.
In an interview, Palacios said the problem with the previous bill is that it focused only on one individual.
During the deliberation on H.B. 17-131 over a couple of months ago, the House minority bloc brought up this concern but the House leadership went ahead to pass the bill.
The new version, Palacios said, applies to all judgments against the government.
Rep. Ray A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan voted “no” while Yumul voted “present.”
Those who voted “yes” aside from Palacios were Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan; Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan; House Floor Leader George N. Camacho, Ind.-Saipan; House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan; Reps. Frank S. Dela Cruz, R-Saipan; Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan; Tony P. Sablan, R-Saipan; Trenton B. Conner, R-Tinian; Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan; Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan; Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant-Saipan; Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan; Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan; and Teresita A. Santos, Ind.-Rota.
Reps. Froilan C. Te norio, Covenant-Saipan, and Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, were absent while Rep. Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, was not around during the voting.
Rejected
Also yesterday, the House unanimously rejected H.B. 17-26 that seeks to impose an excise tax on the sale of imported bottled drinking water.
There were no discussions before the House voted 17-0 to kill the bill.
Speaker Cabrera tasked the bill’s author, Iguel, to lead a conference committee that will work with its Senate counterpart in drafting a new version of H.B. 17-26.
