The funds go to the Criminal Justice Planning Agency, which then subgrants to other entities in the commonwealth engaged in law enforcement, corrections, crime victim assistance, and the court system.
“Funding will triple for these crime prevention and public safety activities under terms of H.R. 3353,” Sablan explained.
“Currently, the commonwealth shares a ‘state’ share of funding with American Samoa. American Samoa gets 2/3 and we get 1/3.
“Under my bill both American Samoa and the commonwealth will get a full state share of funding, which would have been about $1.1 million last year.”
In order to become law the bill must still win approval in the Senate and be signed by the president.
“Now that we have gotten the bill through the House — by voice vote, without any objection — we can try to get the Senate to approve by unanimous consent.
“This is not a controversial measure; but the Senate has a very full agenda and time is short,” the congressman said.
Sablan has already been successful at moving his bill through the House by getting bipartisan support.
“It’s always nice to hear no ‘nays’ when the chair calls for a vote on your bill,” said Sablan.
Getting state-equivalent funding has been a long-time goal of the Northern Marianas in Washington. Previous resident representatives lobbied hard for the change in funding formula, but were not able to get it changed.
“It’s a measure of the power of having a seat in Congress that we have been able to get the Byrne grant formula change approved by the House. But, even so, it takes time and persistence,” said the commonwealth’s congressman.
If the Senate does not pass the bill, Sablan promised to reintroduce the measure in January, when the 112th Congress begins its work.
