BY a vote of 5 yes and 1 no, and with three senators absent, the Senate on Monday failed to garner the two-thirds vote required to override Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ line-item veto of the allotments for the utility costs of Rota, Tinian and Saipan in the fiscal year 2024 budget.
When the governor signed Public Law 23-9 or the FY2024 Appropriations Act, he disapproved the provision requiring the central government to pay for the utility costs of the municipal governments.
On Monday, Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero of Saipan, Tinian Sens. Karl King-Nabors, Frank Q. Cruz and Jude Hofschneider, and Rota Sen. Dennis Mendiola voted yes to the motion to override the governor’s line-item veto.
Senate Floor Leader Corina Magofna of Saipan cast the lone dissenting vote.
Senate Vice President Donald Manglona and Sen. Paul A. Manglona, both of Rota, and Sen. Celina Babauta of Saipan were absent.
Prior to the roll call vote, King-Nabors reminded his fellow senators that the bicameral conference committee agreed to let the central government pay for the municipalities’ utility costs, and ensure that the resident departments “don’t go dark.”
Cruz, for his part, said the House and the Senate conference agreed to the proposal, and that’s why “I don’t understand why the governor stated that giving him 100% reprogramming authority doesn’t make sense to him [since there are not enough funds]…. [But] all he has to do is give the funding for utilities,” he added.
Deleon Guerrero also noted the agreement among the members of the bicameral conference committee.
“We must mean and hold what we say on these agreements. We are elected officials, we come together to address the finances of the government, its operational budget for FY 2024. And we made that agreement,” the Senate president added.
Magofna said, “I heard every single one of your sentiments and request for override. This motion places us all in a double-edged situation because regardless of which way we vote there will be disappointment and disagreement. That’s [a] given because that’s part of our job.”
She said she saw both sides of the argument, “but at the end of the day I have to make a decision that is sound and [rational], but most importantly, render a vote that would give our people a sense of hope, stability and confidence that we, as elected leaders, are doing everything within our ability and authority to find an amicable and diplomatic solution for the betterment of all.”
Magofna said the House and Senate agreed on the proposal based on the assumption that they would also pass revenue-generating bills to address the government’s budget shortfall. But “as of today, these revenue-generating bills have yet to be enacted into law, and I’m not sure if these bills will even pass both the House and the Senate,” she said.
“I cannot in good conscience transfer additional financial obligations onto the executive branch given the current status of the revenue-generating bills that are still pending,” Magofna said, referring to the fee- and tax-hike measures introduced in the House.
