Otherwise, he added, government employees who are working for nonessential agencies will absorb the impact of the government shutdown.
“So there should not be any reason why there can’t be a budget,” said Benavente, R-Saipan.
He believes, however, that elected officials will get back pay.
Benavente said there is a difference between those who have to report for work and those who do not have to in case of a government shutdown.
If the governor will get back pay because he still has to report for work during the shutdown, the lawmakers who will also have to work during the same period should get back pay as well, he added.
Yesterday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 17-26 which identifies the “essential services” that will be exempted from the shutdown.
The bill now goes to the House of Representatives where Benavente pre-filed a similar bill last July.
The Senate bill listed the governor, the lt. governor, the special assistant for management and budget, a legal counsel and an administrative staff member as “essential personnel.”
In the Legislature, the personnel required for the enactment of the budget — the lawmakers — and the Legislature Bureau are considered “essential.”
But the governor and the lawmakers will only get paid once a new budget bill becomes law.
The other essential services listed in S.B. 17-26 are the Emergency Management Office; the Department of Public Health’s physicians, nurses, laboratory technicians, other health providers, mental health service and other employees to be determined by the Public Health secretary; all of the Department of Public Safety’s non-administrative personnel; all of the Department of Corrections’ non-administrative personnel; the Department of Finance secretary, one fiscal analyst, one administrative staff member and all non-administrative personnel of the Division of Customs.
The attorney general, two assistant attorneys general, the public defender, an assistant public defender, all non-administrative personnel of the Department of Public Works assigned to roads, grounds and solid waste; and Board of Parole personnel are also listed as essential personnel.
In the Public School System, the essential employees are the education commissioner, principals, vice principals, classroom teachers and support staff at facilities where students are in attendance.
All Northern Marianas College personnel are considered “essential.”
In the judicial branch, “personnel required for constitutional and legally mandatory due process” are “essential.”
Likewise, all Commonwealth Election Commission employees will be exempted from the shutdown three months before the Nov. 2 election.
