GOVERNOR Juan N. Babauta could be sued by a taxpayer for hiring employees who are paid above the salary cap without legislative approval, according to House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider and Rep. Stanley T. Torres, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Press Secretary Cecilia T. Celes was not available for interview yesterday. Pamela Brown, the governor’s legal counsel, declined to comment.
In an interview with KMCV 7, the governor said he would look into the lawmakers’ concerns and ensure that the law is followed.
Hofschneider and Torres claimed that by employing appointees who are receiving salaries above the limit prescribed by law without first securing legislative sanction, the Office of the Governor has violated section 526 of P.L. 11-41, or the existing budgetary act, which they said “already constitutes illegal hiring.”
That section of the law states that “Public Laws 7-31, 8-15, 8-6, 9-25, 10-35 and 10-85” or the laws “with reference to salaries of graded and ungraded positions, shall be strictly adhered to.” All salary classification and compensation outside the above laws shall be first sanctioned by the Legislature before its implementation,” the speaker said.
“The possibility for (the governor to face taxpayer’s lawsuit) is very high and very great,” said Hofschneider, R-Saipan.
He explained that section 504 of P.L. 11-41 mandates that “the person responsible for executing an illegal hiring shall also be the one responsible for the individual that executes the contract and will also bear the cost in case of a taxpayer’s lawsuit.”
“If the governor executed the contracts illegally, then based on P.L. 11-41’s penalty section, he would be responsible for the cost,” he added.
Section 504 mandates that “any person who hires or approves the hiring of any person, in violation of this provision, shall be personally liable for the costs of employment of the person hired illegally, together with reasonable costs and attorney’s fees in any action brought by any taxpayer to recover on behalf of the commonwealth monies improperly spent on such illegal hiring.”
“The Office of the Governor, based on the Ways and Means Committee’s April 10 review of the certifications for the lifting of the salary cap, committed illegal hiring and thus (is) illegally spending public money. They get the salaries of those they illegally hired from the public coffers, so they are using public funds illegally too. With this, there’s a great possibility for a taxpayer’s lawsuit against the Office of the Governor,” Torres, R-Saipan, said.
The Ways and Means Committee, in a recent report, found inconsistencies in the certifications that Babauta made for at least four of his appointees. Torres said these needed legislative action.
Also yesterday, during a special session, House members unanimously adopted as its official position a letter prepared by Hofschneider informing the governor and Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente that the House will not sanction the excess salaries of some of the appointees of the Office of the Governor.
The April 17 letter noted that the House reviewed the April 10 report of the committee and “agreed” with its findings that the governor’s certifications particularly for Francisco I. Taitano, special assistant for customs and quarantine; Celina R. Babauta, the governor’s secretary; and Robert J. Schwalbach, the governor’s senior policy advisor, were “defective.”
The same letter also noted that the certifications for the salaries in excess of rates under the Compensation Adjustment Act of Public Safety Commissioner Edward Camacho and Deputy Commissioners Santiago F. Tudela and Franklin R. Babauta are “similarly defective.”
The letter echoed Hofschneider and Torres’s position that the Office of the Governor did not follow P.L. 11-41’s mandate on legislative sanction which is punishable under section 504 of the law.
The House said: “Now and in the future, the House will closely review all certifications of salaries in excess of the limits set by law and consider whether sanction is warranted on a case-by-case basis.”
In considering future certifications on lifting salary caps, the House members said they are mindful of the following: the decrease in revenue that has led to drastic budget cuts and has jeopardized critical services such as the Commonwealth Health Center and the DPS operations; the long overdue salary adjustments, including those authorized under P.L. 7-31; the substantial sum owed to the Retirement Fund in government contributions; the need for an “equitable and cogent policy” governing fiscal matters during this time of austerity; and the need to rebuild the trust of the private sector and prevent continued loss of morale among government employees.
Hofschneider and Torres said they are not “getting back” at the administration for reducing each lawmaker’s annual budget allocation of $155,000 by 16.3 percent.
“Vindictiveness is out of the question. The administration did a problematic action. They should have resolved it. There were preventive suggestions and the law tells them what not to do. Instead, what they did was to defend their position and said that they will just wait for the outcome of the investigation being conducted by the Office of the Public Auditor. And that’s not a wise thing to do,” the speaker said.
According to Torres, “It takes two to tango. But the governor did the dance alone despite knowing that the Legislature is mandated by both the Constitution and enabling laws to have a say on the lifting of the cap.”
But Torres admitted that the budget reduction affected the House. “Of course financially we are affected. But more than that, we were affected because the executive branch encroached on the authority of the Legislature when it is clear that there should be separation of powers,” he said.
