THERE are 450 other CNMI government employees whose jobs are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, and they will also have to be terminated, Special Assistant for Management and Budget Vicky Villagomez told the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee on Friday.
The committee chairman, Senate Vice President Donald Manglona, invited Villagomez and acting Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita to the meeting to discuss the revised fiscal year 2023 budget.
Villagomez and Norita are also part of the fiscal response team that Gov. Arnold I. Palacios formed to review the government’s financial status.
Norita told the committee it was the fiscal response team that recommended to revise the FY 2023 budget because the $32 million in ARPA monies that former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres allotted in the budget were no longer available.
She said the CNMI government will have to tap local revenue for the remainder of the fiscal year.
For her part, Villagomez said in the FY 2023 budget, the former governor allocated $6 million in ARPA funds for 300 temporary employees. Those employees received a 60-day termination notice in January 2023.
Villagomez said the fiscal response team found out that there were actually 750 government employees paid with ARPA monies although 450 of these employees were listed in the budget spreadsheet under local accounts. She said most of these ARPA-funded employees were paid $27,000 per annum.
Sen. Paul A. Manglona asked if the remaining ARPA-funded employees are still included in Gov. Palacios’ revised budget or should they be terminated “to stop the bleeding?”
Villagomez replied, “Well, if the employees are ARPA funded and there is no more ARPA money, it is a requirement for the department heads to issue a letter terminating those employees because ARPA [funds] do not exist now.”
She added, “Now if the head of the agency finds out that there is another source of funding available [for an] employee, then they will have to discuss that with the governor.”
