The administration has already prepared a contingency plan in case lawmakers fail to pass a balanced budget before the deadline, which will result in a government shutdown.
Senate Bill 17-26, which Sen. Jovita M. Taimanao, Ind.-Rota, introduced, provides a list of the essential government services that will be exempted from the shutdown.
The Senate is expected to discuss the bill during its session on Thursday.
According to Taimanao, the “essential agencies” are the governor’s office, the Emergency Management Office, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Finance, the Office of the Attorney General and Office of the Public Defender.
In the Public School System, the principals, vice principals, classroom teachers, support staff and the education commissioner are considered “essential” personnel.
In the judicial branch, the justices, judges, the chief probation officer, the assistant probation officer, a clerk each from the Supreme Court and the Superior Court as well as two security personnel are considered “essential.”
In the legislative branch, only the personnel needed for the enactment of a balanced budget are considered “essential.”
But “this section shall not be construed to authorize any payment of salary inconsistent with Article III, Section 9(a) of the Constitution. Upon compliance with Section 9(a) legislators shall have their salaries restored.”
The bill also includes all employees of the Commonwealth Election Commission, who will be considered “essential” for less than three months before the November election.
In an interview yesterday, House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan, said H.B. 17-91 which he introduced a few months ago was still with the Ways and Means Committee but Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, assured him that the House leadership would expedite action on the measure.
According to Benavente’s bill, the essential services are medical care of inpatients and emergency outpatients; safety on use of food, drugs and hazardous materials; air-traffic control and other transportation safety functions and the protection of transport property; border and coastal protection and surveillance; protection of local and federal lands, buildings, waterways, equipment and other property owned by the commonwealth; law enforcement and criminal investigation; emergency and disaster assistance; production and distribution of power; and preservation of money and the banking system of the commonwealth.
Benavente said his bill will at least reduce possible confusion among government employees in case of a shutdown.
It’s better to have a law that can be followed not only by the administration, but by the judicial and the legislative branches as well, he added.
It works
Benavente said House Legislative Initiative 16-11, which was ratified by voters last year, is “working.”
Benevante was one of the authors of the legislative initiative.
The newly ratified constitutional amendment, he added, forced the administration and the Legislature to work real hard on the budget.
In the past, the last budget enacted into law remained in effect until a new one was passed. This was called a “continuing resolution.”
A continuing resolution, Benavente said, was the “easy way out” for the administration and lawmakers.
It became a problem, he added, once government revenue declined due to the worsening economy.
Using the previous year’s budget levels for the succeeding years despite a reduced revenue level resulted in deficits, he said.
“And we can’t continue to have deficits forever,” Benavente added. “I wish we had the initiative back in 1998 when we first noticed the revenue was going down.”
Citing a legal opinion from the AG’s office, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said he will determine what agencies are “essential” if lawmakers fail to pass such legislation.
