Assemblywoman Dorothy T. Ueda introduced the bill, NSA Bill No. 14-6, to the Assembly on April 20, 2009. The bill was adopted and assigned NSA’s Ways and Means Committee.
According to Assemblyman Abraham Osima, chairman of the committee, the bill addresses concerns pertaining to current and potential business developments that the state government does not have any control mechanisms over; and further such businesses, even though they provide convenient services to residents of the state, do not benefit the economy of the state as compared to business establishments in Koror.“Currently the state does not have any mandates that regulate business operations and establishments within its territories,” Osima said. “More so, the businesses licenses for already established and operating businesses were issued at the national level, which translate to revenue that the state government could have collected.”Osima said public hearings on the bill have been conducted; and though a majority of the citizens of the state support its intent, concerns were raised pertaining to permissible business establishments and operations, rate of license fees, and the bill’s correlation to established national mandates and policies.“The committee had taken notes of all the concerns,” Osima said, “And is working diligently to addressed the concerns before the bill is discussed again in the Assembly.”Osima further added that the Assembly is most concerned about the welfare of the resident of the state, inclusive of the businesses that are already established in the state.“We do not want to enact a law that would drive away potential investors to the state nor do we want to introduce measures that would strain already established business operations,” he said. “We are working to implement a measure that would not only be beneficial to the state government, but most importantly advance the welfare of the residents of the state through the promotion of a vibrant and manageable business economy.”Osima further added that his committee is diligently researching and studying existing national and state level mandates of similar nature; and will proceed to develop NSA Bill No. 14-6 in the best interest of all relevant stakeholders. Moreover, he said, as soon as the details of the bill are finalized, it will be brought to the floor of the Assembly for discussion during its next session.
