REPRESENTATIVE Edwin Propst wants to know why the Northern Marianas Technical Institute has not received its share of CW funds for the past two years.
He said he has yet to get an answer from the NMTI trustees, adding that CW funds should be spent properly and with transparency so the public knows what is going on with the funds.
U.S. Public Law 115-218 allows the U.S. Department of Labor to impose a $200 fee on CNMI-Only Transitional Worker or CW visa applicants. According to federal law, the amounts collected “shall be deposited into the Treasury of the Commonwealth Government for the sole and exclusive purpose of funding vocational education, apprenticeships, or other training programs for United States workers.”
NMTI, through Public Law 20-92, was established as a government-run technical training institute that will provide career, trades and technical training for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
During a recent meeting with the House Ways and Means Committee, NMTI board member Rick Kautz said the institute has not received CW funds for two years.
From Fiscal Year 2012 to FY 2021, a total of $17.227 million was collected from CW permit applicants, a Department of Finance spreadsheet shows.
The largest amount of CW funds collected was $3.2 million in FY 2016. In FY 2021, $1.023 million in CW funds were collected.
Since FY 2014, a total of $5.73 million has been allotted to NMTI; $4.76 million to NMC; and $2.79 million to the Public School System.
PSS was allotted $500,000 each fiscal year from FY 2012 to FY 2015. There were no allotments to PSS from FY 2016 to FY 2018. In FY 2019, $800,000 was allotted to PSS but according to Finance, the actual CW funds remitted to PSS amounted to $600,000 only.
The Finance spreadsheet also shows that a total of $715,482 in CW funds had been allotted in fiscal years 2018 and 2020 to Latte Training Academy Inc., a non-profit organization that is also developing a local workforce in the CNMI.
Based on the spreadsheet, Latte Academy was allotted $50,000 in FY 2020 and $665,482 in FY 2018 for a total of $715,482 in CW funds.
Revolving fund
To address issues regarding the CW funds, Rep. Ivan Blanco, the vice chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has introduced House Bill 22-13, which will create a CW fee revolving fund and designate the CNMI Labor secretary as the expenditure authority of the CW funds.
The bill aims to “uphold the funding’s stated purposes, promote accountability and measure effectiveness in spending.”
The committee tabled H.B. 22-13 in its meeting last week and will invite CNMI Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente to its next meeting to hear her comments.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona, center background, presides over a meeting in the House chamber last week. Also in attendance are vice chairman Ivan Blanco, Reps. Richard Lizam, Denita Yangtemai, Vicente Camacho, Celina Babauta, Leila Staffler Sheila Babauta and Edwin Propst.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
