THE Senate has proposed increasing the bonuses for CNMI government retirees from $500 to $1,000 each.
The Senate passed its version of House Bill 22-91 which now returns to the House of Representatives.
On Wednesday, the House minority members — Angel A. Demapan, Roy A. Ada, Joseph A. Flores, Joseph Leepan T. Guerrero and Patrick H. San Nicolas — expressed their support for doubling the retirees’ bonuses.
“It’s been a few years since our retirees have had the opportunity to receive a bonus,” House Minority Leader Angel A. Demapan said in a statement. “We are grateful that the Senate leadership was able to increase the bonus amount to $1,000 and we are ready to support [it] when it appears on the House session agenda. Our retirees have been patient and we would like to see them get these funds as soon as possible.”
Demapan authored Public Law 20-10 which provided retirees with their bonuses in 2017 and 2018.
On Dec. 15, 2021, the Republican-led Senate adopted Senate Joint Resolution 22-5 to approve Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ request to reprogram $1.3 million from the general fund for the payment of a $500 holiday bonus for each retiree.
But the Democrat-led House did not act on the joint resolution, and instead demanded more information from the administration about the funding source.
On Jan. 12, 2022, the House unanimously passed H.B. 22-91 authored by Rep. Donald M. Manglona to allocate $1.3 million for the retirees’ bonuses by reappropriating the funds that the governor line-item vetoed when he signed the fiscal year 2022 budget law.
The Senate version of the House bill includes the following provisions:
“(a) Section 103(c)(9) of Public Law 22-08 [the FY 2022 budget] is hereby amended by adding one new business unit as follows:
“ ‘NEW Retirees’ Bonus’
“(b) Section 501 of Public Law 22-08 is amended to add a new subsection (a) to read:
“ ‘(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the Governor shall have 100 percent reprogramming authority of the appropriated funds for the executive branch. The Secretary of Finance shall provide a report within 30 days of any reprogramming of funds authorized under this subsection.’
“(c) Section 709 of Public Law 22-08 is hereby amended by adding subsection (g) to read as follows:
“(g) Retirees’ Bonus. The Secretary of Finance shall be the expenditure authority of the appropriated funds.”
The Senate version of the bill would appropriate $2.626 million for the retirees’ bonuses.
