The CJS appropriations subcommittee added the money to the bill it marked up last week in response to Sablan’s request for assistance. The $400,000 would go toward personnel, training, and systems upgrades for the courts on Rota, Tinian, and Saipan.
“Like the $500,000 earmark for renovating the Rota gymnasium that was included in the Transportation Subcommittee bill last week, this $400,000 for the CNMI Judiciary is just the first step in legislative process,” Sablan said.
“But the first step can be the most important.
“I am very appreciative of Chairman Mollohan’s decision to include money for the CNMI Judiciary at my request.
He and the other Subcommittee members recognized the importance of this money to our court system.”
The $400,000 earmark funds, would be awarded under the terms of the Byrne Justice Improvement grant program. The money would be available for the Judiciary personnel who provide security on all three islands, and would help cushion the loss of Recovery Act funding the court system has been using for this purpose.
“The Recovery Act provided funding that the Judiciary used to hire security personnel,” according to Sablan.
“Prior to the Recovery Act, the Marshal Service Unit had six people protecting justices, judges, court staff and patrons on Saipan, but the courts on the Tinian and Rota did not have any security.
“The earmark should allow for continuing security on Tinian and Rota.”
Sablan’s earmark would also be available to modernize the court’s communications infrastructure. The court has an outdated LAN network and would like to add video conferencing capability. This could give the Judiciary the ability to conduct hearings remotely when there is an urgent case and no judge available to travel. The Judiciary also wants to provide technical training to keep its IT personnel up to speed.
Kilili said that one of the reasons the earmark has been included in the appropriation measure is because of the quality of the proposal. “The CNMI Judiciary provided me with a compelling project proposal outlining their needs. And that was the proposal I submitted to the Appropriations Committee,” Sablan explained.
In December 2009, Sablan sent out letters to government agencies and nonprofit organizations in the Northern Marianas seeking earmark request proposals. The Congressman then submitted his official requests to the Appropriations Committte in March 2010 for projects that addressed a significant public need and that warranted Federal funding.
Like the $500,000 earmark for the Rota gym, the $400,000 earmark for the Jundiciary represents a significant increase over last year’s appropriations for Sablan’s projects.
“Part of the benefit of longevity in Congress is the relationship that is built up between individual representatives and other Members and the Committee staff,” said Sablan.
While having the funding request in the Subcommittee mark-up is a major step in the process of attaining congressionally directed spending items, there are still no guarantees. The Subcommittee action was only the first formal step in a long process of legislative procedures. Next for the appropriation is approval by the full Appropriations Committee, which usually occurs before the August congressional recess.
