With Reps. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, and Ray A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan, abstaining, the 17 other House members voted to pass H.B. 17-131.
Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, was absent.
H.B. 17-131will authorize the governor to negotiate a settlement and payment of the judgment entered in Superior Court civil action No. 97-486 in connection with the amount the CNMI government owes to businessman Jack Manglona.
The bill, according to its author Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, applies to the other outstanding court judgments against the commonwealth.
He said the House members are also aware of the more than $8 million that the government owes to businessman Tony Pellegrino.
Such debt, Palacios said, continues to incur interest and will get bigger the longer it takes for the government to pay.
Palacios’ bill stated that with its current financial condition, the government can’t pay cash on such judgments.
It noted, however, that Manglona has indicated a willingness to consider other methods to satisfy the judgment.
The settlement, H.B. 17-131 said, “may include offsets and credits on any tax obligation or other obligations of the claimant or members of his immediate family to the commonwealth government, including all other settlement methods authorized by law other than cash as agreed by both parties.”
House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan, said they can’t be specific, at least for now, which methods authorized by law can be used to settle government debts.
For her part, Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, assured that whatever methods are used in negotiating a settlement, “it would be within the parameters of the law.”
