Last Monday, the House was supposed to present the report of the bicameral conference committee that finalized the new draft of House Bill 17-45, but the session was rescheduled for yesterday after the administration questioned the proposed exemptions.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ramon S. Basa said they decided not to entertain H.B. 17-45 yesterday because the members of the bicameral conference committee needed to meet again to discuss the administration’s concerns.
Basa, Covenant-Saipan, said they may act on the bill on Thursday next week as he expressed hope that colleagues will vote for it.
The fiscal year 2011 budget bill, which the Legislature has to pass before Sept. 30, is premised on the passage of the austerity bill.
The $132 million budget proposed by the administration already includes the savings the austerity measure will realize.
Basa said that because of the concerns of the administration, they decided to bring the bill back to the House-Senate conference committee which could not meet earlier this week because some members were off-island.
Basa said aside from the administration’s concerns regarding the Public School System’s exemption, some House members also expressed concern about exempting Public Safety positions that usually work closely with the judicial system.
Certain offices of the court cannot close even on one Friday per pay period, Basa quoted other lawmakers as saying.
“The conference committee should meet again to either consider or not consider such concerns before we can finally act on it hopefully by Thursday next week,” Basa said.
