Last week, the governor signed Public Law 24-13, authorizing the government to borrow $29 million from MPLT to pay the NMI Settlement Fund for 75% of the retirees’ pension. On Monday, MPLT approved the loan with conditions, including the enactment of a law authorizing margin account transactions secured by the fund corpus.
The $29 million loan for the NMI Settlement Fund will allow the government to free up the general fund to support other agencies, departments, and branches of government in light of declining revenues.
In his letter to Senate President Karl King-Nabors and Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez on Tuesday, Apatang noted that he had signed P.L. 24-14, the fiscal year 2026 budget, with the understanding that his administration will work closely with the Legislature to negotiate the loan with MPLT.
He said that without the loan, “our budgetary resources will be insufficient to adequately fund critical programs and services, including core operations of government, as well as legal obligations of the Commonwealth.”
The governor stressed that swift approval of the MPLT loan is crucial to preparing a revised budget aligned with available resources. He noted that a draft proposal authorizes MPLT to engage in margin transactions, collateralizing securities to avoid liquidating a portion of the trust corpus and to ensure a higher rate of return on investments over time.
He told the Senate president and the speaker that it is essential to pass standalone legislation authorizing margin transactions for the pension loan without delay.
