FIFTEEN government officials and employees hired by the new administration are getting salaries that exceed the cap without the Legislature’s approval, the Office of the Public Auditor said in a special report released yesterday.
Three other ranking officials have pending compensation adjustments that also go beyond the salary cap, OPA said.
The salaries of these 18 government officials and employees were not sanctioned by the Legislature as required by Public Law 11-41, the report added.
Public Auditor Mike Sablan recommends consideration of legislation that “comprehensively” addresses the salary caps applicable to the various agencies.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta said he is “amenable and open to ideas and solutions toward rectifying this problem.”
The governor will transmit to the Legislature amended salary certifications for the persons he has hired since his Jan. 14 inauguration.
“As soon as this issue was raised, I immediately directed staff to review all such laws and to develop procedures to not only rectify any possible deficiencies, but to also ensure future compliance,” Babauta said in a letter to Senate President Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, and Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan.
OPA said while many employees’ salaries have been certified, none of the employees identified appear to have been approved through the legislative sanctioning process.
“Employees who are currently being compensated above salary caps, without proper certification and sanction, do not have proper approval to receive their elevated salaries and are therefore being improperly paid the amount that exceeds the cap,” OPA said.
The governor says he is ready to meet with Manglona and Hofschneider to address the issue.
“Given the serious nature of this oversight and the depth and breadth of its impact, I urge you to try to find time at your earliest convenience,” Babauta said. “I again stress that the administration wants a comprehensive resolution that protects all government officials and employees affected,” he added.
Hofschneider said the governor’s proposed remedies will be reviewed and considered by the House of Representatives.
The House, however, will not sanction any recommendation exceeding the salary cap, he added.
Babauta said in the past three-and-a-half years, at least 175 government employees have been at risk for liability under the Planning and Budget Act or other applicable laws.
The potential impact of Public Law 11-41, Section 526 is extensive, he added.
This section of the law requires approval of the Legislature in all salary classification and compensation outside the above laws.
“I am greatly concerned that immediate action be taken to rectify this problem so that additional liability can be avoided,” the governor said.
The list of administration employees with compensation that exceeded the salary cap without the sanction of the Legislature includes Senior Policy Advisor Robert J. Schwalbach, Public Safety Commissioner Edward C. Camacho, Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Franklin R. Babauta and Emergency Management Office Director Rudy Pua.
The certification letters of the other appointees on the list are also “deficient” because the administration failed to certify that a “diligent effort” was made to recruit a professionally or technically qualified person willing to accept the salary within the caps, OPA said.
These include Celina Babauta, the governor’s executive secretary; Schwalbach; Francisco I. Taitano, the governor’s special assistant for customs and quarantine; Division of Environmental Quality Director Juan I. Castro Jr.; Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Santiago F. Tudela; and Franklin Babauta.
OPA also has a separate list of 14 government appointees hired between 1998 and 2002 who exceeded the salary cap.
These include former Public Safety Commissioner Charles Ingram, former EMO Director Gregorio Deleon Guerrero, CIP Administrator Virginia C. Villagomez, Deputy Public Health Secretary Joaquin Taitano and Public Health special assistant Pedro T. Untalan.
Mike Sablan was the budget and financial adviser of the previous governor.
OPA noted “significant inconsistencies” in the applicable legislation.
It said the implementation has been occasionally haphazard as a result of the confusion surrounding the status of the employees, the office that manages personnel affairs, and the laws that govern the relationship, terms and conditions of public service.
“OPA recommends strongly that immediate consideration be given to drafting legislation that clearly sets forth the status of the various employees of the commonwealth government,” the public auditor said.
