Yumul, R-Saipan, in an interview yesterday said he provided Variety a copy of his House Bill 17-199 when he pre-filed it so once it came out in the news, members of the public could post their comments.
“I wanted to get feedback from the people,” he said.
Based on the online comments and after consulting with certain government agencies, Yumul said he “decided not to introduce the bill — the bill is now dead.”
Yumul said he appreciated the people who made intelligent comments about the issue.
Some lawmakers, he added, are “wary” of the Variety’s online comments. “But for me I consider them an important source of information that can aid my work as a legislator.”
He believes that lawmakers need not waste “legislative resources” if they will just check the comments on the Variety website regarding the bills they are considering.
His H.B. 17-199, he said, was supposed to bring in revenue but he agreed with some of the Variety online commentators who noted that it was not timely.
“And I respected that and that is why I decided not to introduce it,” Yumul said.
