Senate Vice President Jude U. Hofschneider, R-Tinian, said something in the horizon tells them that the CNMI will get out of this “pitfall.”
The positive impact of the military buildup on Guam, Hofschneider said, will surely spill over to the CNMI and this is why they are optimistic about the commonwealth’s economic prospects.
He said the CNMI has resources and other potentials that can respond to the needs of military personnel and their families.
Tinian, he added, will directly benefit as the island will serve as a location for military exercises.
This, he said, will mean a bigger market for local products and services.
The new Senate committee, Hofschneider added, will work closely with businesses and other community groups on Saipan, Tinian and Rota to come up with workable measures that will help CNMI prepare for these developments.
The committee’s two other members are Sens. Ralph DLG Torres, R-Saipan, and Jovita M. Taimanao, Ind.-Rota.
The panel will solicit ideas from the private sector, members of the public and government agencies about revenue generating measures.
It will hold a series of meetings in the next three months and will come up with recommendations.
The panel’s job, Hofschneider said, is not necessarily to make new laws.
It involves a review of existing laws to find out which of them are not well enforced, he added.
The committee will also identify which of the current laws are not “working” anymore and are serving as obstacles to economic development, the senator said.
This is why they want the various sectors of the community to educate lawmakers about how the current laws affect them, he added.
Hofschneider noted that the business dynamics differ on each of the three main islands, so the committee needs to hear from the people of Saipan, Rota and Tinian.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, created the committee last week “to address the budget shortfall and the need for revenue generation.”
