Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, said House Bill 17-165 is very clear in stating that paying government debts may include “other settlement methods, authorized by law, other than cash as agreed by both parties.”
Palacios said there are government resources that have not been utilized for the longest time. These include government buildings and arable lands sitting idle for many years.
Because the government has no money to pay judgments, Palacios said it might as well make the best use of its unutilized resources to settle its debts.
H.B. 17-165 empowers the governor to negotiate settlements and payment of judgments against the government. Such settlements may include offsets and credits on any tax obligation or other obligations of the claimants.
Fitial, in his veto message, said “approving the measure would allow claimants to circumvent that law and take away the appropriations power from the Legislature while impacting the general fund by offsetting and crediting tax obligations.”
