DEPARTMENT of Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig said on Friday that the CNMI is expected to receive roughly $16 million in reimbursements from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency for Covid-19 expenditures.
Atalig said this will cover the $11 million deficit incurred as of the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2022.
He said he received the update from the governor’s authorized representative for the Covid-19 pandemic, Patrick Guerrero, who had met with FEMA officials in Hawaii.
“We were able to push the urgency to get us our reimbursement, so we’re excited. We should be receiving in the next week or two about $16 million, if not more, from FEMA for reimbursements that we have spent and used up, so it’s exciting. We’re going to get that and that will help with our current budget deficit because we’ve spent a lot on [Covid-19 efforts],” Atalig said.
He noted that the way the reimbursement process works is that the CNMI government must spend its own funds for the disaster, and then get a reimbursement from the federal agency.
“That sometimes takes months, but we’re finally here. The interesting thing is when it’s regular disasters, like a typhoon, it’s usually just our area. But in this case, with [the Covid-19 pandemic], it’s every state and every territory bombarding FEMA with their request for reimbursement and funding,” Atalig said.
During a media briefing on Aug. 8, Atalig said when he was off-island meeting with FEMA Region IX partners, the CNMI was assured that it would receive its reimbursements, but it would take time.
Atalig said anything over $1 million from the federal government must go through the legislative process at the congressional level, which he added typically takes about two weeks.
He said the CNMI has submitted more requests for reimbursements, which will also go through this process.
