The meeting, however, did not push though because, according to Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, they had to review the two versions of the budget bill.
The House session that Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, scheduled for 5 p.m. was moved to 10 a.m., today.
As agreed during the meeting with Inos on Monday night, the House will act on House Bill 17-53 which increases the business license fees and the excise tax while reducing the rebate rate.
In an interview, Manglona said it is “unfortunate that amid the suffering of people who are being affected by the government shutdown, the House leadership keeps on postponing meetings.”
He said they were close to an agreement on Monday night, adding that he appreciated the lt. governor’s effort to reach out to the Legislature and help break the budget deadlock.
He said he was expecting the House to pass House Bill 17-53 as agreed on Monday evening, “but the House leadership seemed to have just slept on it.”
Manglona said the widening gap between the House leadership and the minority bloc is further delaying the passage of the budget.
In a separate interview, Palacios said he does not like a budget that imposes an eight-hour cut in working hours because “it is way too far from being balanced.”
But for the sake of compromise and to end the shutdown once and for all, he said he would agree to a 12-hour cut with 13 unpaid holidays.
He pointed out that even with the 16-hour cut recommended by the administration and the House leadership, the government will still have a $4.5 shortfall.
To end the shutdown, however, he said he is willing to consider the Senate’s latest offer.
For his part, Tenorio said the House leadership’s objective is to make sure that Gov. Benigno R. Fitial will sign the budget bill.
He said the administration’s proposal was for a 16-hour cut. Otherwise, 383 government employees will have to be laid off.
Tenorio said they may now agree to the Senate’s eight-hour cut proposal, which is also supported by the House minority bloc, but the budget bill should also include the list of 383 government positions that must be terminated.
This is to ensure that the budget is balanced, Tenorio said.
House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan, said he hopes the House leadership would support the fee and tax hike bill.
“I believe it is the only way to move forward with the budget bill,” he said.
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce has told lawmakers that imposing tax and fee increases without reducing the number of government employees “is to ask businesses and individual taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets to allow government to continue employing and spending as usual.”
The shutdown, which started on Friday, has affected 1,400 employees.
