“Other states have their own autism commissions,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan. “Don’t oppose progress,” he urged his colleagues. “Don’t oppose compassion.”
Rep. Rosemond B. Santos, R-Saipan, noted that the proposed commission will include a PSS representative. “Let’s pass this bill,” she said.
House Health, Education and Welfare Committee Chairman Ralph DLG. Torres, R-Saipan, said autistic children have special needs that the bill aims to address. “Let’s pass it,” he added.
Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, said parents of these children are struggling to cope, “and they need support — please support this bill.”
In a letter to the Senate, where the bill is now headed, BOE Chairwoman Lucia L. Blanco-Maratita and Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan said although they commend lawmakers for introducing the bill, “several aspects” of it “are troublesome” for BOE’s committee on legislative and intergovernmental affairs, which reviews measures affecting public education.
The bill, according to BOE-PSS, is “non-inclusive.”
“PSS must encourage a commission that addresses the needs of all special needs children and not just one group,” the education officials stated.
The bill noted that 58 students of PSS have autism.
“This number must be balanced with the approximately 500 other special needs children that are also enrolled in our public schools,” the education officials stated.
The two also claimed that the bill “seems to circumvent certain local and federal regulations of…education and governmental entities.”
Moreover, they said, the proposed autism commission “does not and cannot dictate to PSS. Conflicts could arise because PSS already has policies and procedures in place regarding special needs children.… [We] also foresee…conflicts between [the commission] and other agencies and committees within the commonwealth that are dedicated to the advancement and welfare of autistic children. The concern here is that [the commission] would [duplicate the functions of existing agencies] and is, therefore, not a wise use of public funds.”
The education officials also questioned the composition of the 15-member autism commission, which they described as “quite large.”
Likewise, only two people can choose the chairperson of the commission, they noted.
“With regards to an appointee from PSS, whoever that PSS employee is…will have additional work and responsibilities,” Blanco-Maratita and Sablan said. “[Our] concern here is that many departments within PSS are already burdened with a heavy work load and are short staffed.”
PSS, they added, cannot support the bill in its current form.
