WITH 12 days left in the fiscal year, the Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed its version of House Bill 23-115, or the Appropriations and Budget Act of FY 2025, with amendments that include the transfer of the Department of Public Lands’ $5.5 million budget to the Marianas Public Land Trust, the restoration of the Judiciary’s authority to fund justices and judges pro tempore, and the exclusion of exempted service contract employees from receiving more than a 10% pay raise.
All of the senators present approved the amendments before passing the FY 2025 spending measure, which now heads back to the House of Representatives. The bill proposes to appropriate $117 million for government operations and personnel in FY 2025.
The CNMI government has to enact a new and balanced budget by Oct. 1, 2024, to avoid a partial shutdown.
Amendments
The first substantial amendment that the Senate adopted was offered by Senate Vice President Donald Manglona, who chairs the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee.
Section 201 of the amended bill reduced DPL’s budget to two dollars only. The measure also remits to MPLT the $5.5 million originally allotted for DPL.
“I know that for this particular amendment, some members have concerns and have received calls from DPL,” Manglona said.
But during the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee budget hearings, he said, “it was clearly stated that DPL has in its reserve over $9 million restricted for some activities such as homestead development.” He said DPL has another reserve in the amount of $5.5 million.
Manglona said it has been DPL’s practice to reserve funds earned in the current fiscal year for its projected expenditures in the following fiscal year.
He said his amendment will “force” DPL to end its practice of reserving funds that could potentially make more money for the CNMI if remitted to MPLT for MPLT to invest.
Manglona wants DPL “to project what they will spend and operate based on what they collect in the preceding fiscal year.”
Other amendments
Sen. Celina Babauta, for her part, offered a floor amendment, which stated that upon renewal of an exempted service contract, the employee “shall not receive a salary increase of more than 10%.”
She said that according to the Office of Personnel Management, exempted service contract employees have been receiving more than a 10%, some up to 30%, pay increase, which is “not in line with civil service rules, and creates an environment of unfairness between civil service employees and exempted service employees.”
Babauta said her amendment will only affect exempted service contract employees. Time and again, she said contract employees who do not have the requisite qualifications get a salary increase of over 30%.
“We are in fiscal…and economic decline and if we don’t put a stop to this here in the Legislature, the executive branch will be free to do as it pleases,” she said.
Manglona proposed another amendment to scrap a provision prohibiting the expenditure of any funds directly or indirectly related to judges or justices pro tempore. The prohibited expenditures include salaries or other forms of compensation, travel costs inclusive of airfare, hotel accommodations, rental cars, per diems, incidental costs or fees and reimbursements.
During the public comments section of the Senate session, Director of Courts Sonia Camacho testified on behalf of Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro and Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja, and asked the Senate to fund the Judiciary’s pro-tempore justices and judges.
According to the Judiciary, eliminating funding for judges and justices pro tempore “effectively prevents the Judiciary from exercising [its] constitutional authority. Without the ability to pay or cover expenses for judges pro tempore, the courts will be unable to address case backlogs or handle matters in which regular judges are disqualified. This will severely impede the administration of justice and deny timely resolution of cases to the people of the Commonwealth.”
