Donald Manglona
THE Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee has asked the Marianas Public Land Trust and the administration to review proposed amendments to Public Law 23-12, which allows the CNMI government to obtain a $15 million line-of-credit from MPLT.
The committee, chaired by Senate Vice President Donald Manglona, will convene at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday to hear from MPLT Chair Philip Mendiola-Long, Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita and Office of Planning and Development Acting Director Elizabeth Balajadia, P.E. regarding the additional amendments that the committee included in House Bill 23-95.
Authored by Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao, H.B. 23-95 allows MPLT to withhold interest income due to the general fund as security and repayment for the line-of-credit at an annual percentage yield of 5.5%. Although this was the original intent of the House last year, the Senate version did not include the security clause, but pledged the funds that would be reimbursed by the U.S. Economic Development Authority. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios signed the Senate version into law.
When Attao’s proposed amendment to the new law reached the Senate earlier this month, Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider moved to refer it to committee because he wanted to include an amendment that would allow Tinian and Rota to “engage” also with MPLT in the future.
The Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee invited the MPLT trustees, the Finance secretary and the OPD director to comment on the additional amendments.
Norita on Friday told the committee that the proposed amendments are not problematic, but she wanted to know if “there is an expectation that municipalities will enter into separate agreements with MPLT” for capital improvement projects annually funded by Section 702 of the CNMI’s Covenant with the federal government.
Manglona said, “Yes … with the same mechanisms in place, for projects funded by 702.”
He said MPLT and the administration have until 11:30 a.m. Tuesday to further review the “working draft” of the bill, which will be discussed in a meeting at 1:30 p.m. on the same day.
