Introduced by Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, House Bill 17-205 will repeal Gov. Benigno R. Fitial’s 2008 Executive Order 08-09 that puts CUC under emergency status and raised its borrowing threshold from $500,000 to $5 million.
Torres said the executive order as amended in 2008 “may be unconstitutional.”
His bill, if enacted into law, will require CUC to get approval from the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission if it wishes to borrow more than $500,000 from private entities.
The measure also prohibits CUC to borrow more than $5 million. If it is necessary for CUC to owe more than $5million, a law must be enacted to allow it.
The House committee chaired by Torres said H.B. 17-205 “will strengthen CUC’s maintenance programs and stave off short and long-term mechanical problems.”
The committee said the measure will save CUC hundreds of thousands of dollars in emergency repairs.
In a phone interview yesterday, Torres said he heard CUC wanted to borrow more than $500,000 from the federal government.
“If they want to do that, we want to make sure that the CNMI government will not be tied in CUC’s debt with the federal government,” he said.
Torres said the committee report on his measure will need further review by the legal counsel.
