By Emmanuel T. Erediano
emmanuel@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
GOVERNOR David M. Apatang said on Monday that he and the House leadership are looking into the pending $29 million loan from the Marianas Public Land Trust to fund the $3.9 million Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for at least the month of November while the federal government remains shut down.
The governor had earlier urged the Legislature to authorize an emergency budget provision to appropriate $3.9 million from the general fund to support the food stamp benefits for 5,500 households or 14,000 individuals receiving food assistance in the CNMI.
In an interview on Monday, the governor said his administration and the House leadership are working on the matter. “Hopefully,” he said, “the CNMI government will finally receive the $29 million loan that it has been waiting for MPLT to approve.”
He said once the loan is secured, the CNMI government will fund NAP one week at a time. For the first week, he said, the electronic benefit transfer will be funded with $1 million from the MPLT loan, followed by $1 million for each of the subsequent weeks of the month.
Apatang said the Legislature needs to appropriate the funds, which will be fully reimbursable once the federal budget is enacted by the U.S. Congress. He told Senate President Karl King-Nabors and Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez that the net impact on the CNMI general fund will be zero upon reimbursement.
Regarding the disagreement between MPLT and the House, the governor said, “We are working on that.”
In a WhatsApp interview, Villagomez said there is no legislation yet to authorize emergency funding for NAP, but he assured that the House Ways and Means Committee “has been looking into it in terms of the funding source.”
“As you may know, we are in a tough situation. The committee has been looking into it in terms of the funding source. The MPLT loan can help a lot,” the speaker said.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.