And do it properly
REPRESENTATIVE Leepan Guerrero introduced his internet gaming bill, H.B. 22-47, on March 23, 2021. A similar measure introduced on March 12, 2019 was passed by both houses of the previous (21st) Legislature, but it was also amended by the 21st Senate in Dec. 2020 and required the approval of the 21st House which adjourned sine die without acting on it.
Last week, Rep. Leepan more or less said that the House Gaming Committee was sitting on his revenue-generating bill. For their part, the committee’s chair and vice chair said, more or less, that they are opposed to the bill because, you know, the IPI of it all. Fair enough.
So now we expect the House committee to do what all legislative committees should do when reviewing any piece of legislation: conduct public hearings; hear both sides of the question; issue a report with a recommendation — and let all the members debate and vote on it.
For once, tell it like it is
LAWMAKERS should also discuss how they intend to plug the financial hole caused by IPI’s slow-motion implosion — specifically how to pay for the retirees’ 25% pension benefit; meet the CNMI government’s federal-court-mandated Settlement Fund obligations (an over $700 million judgment); and fund medical referral costs, public education, public safety, public works, government payroll, etc.
As the Settlement Fund trustee has pointed out, casino revenues allowed the CNMI government to make $1 million payments a week; and this “has allowed the Settlement Fund to avoid draw downs on investments and extended the Settlement Fund’s investment horizon.” Moreover, as a federal judge would put it, considering “that the status of the Retirement Fund was scary and devastating to the retirees [eight] years ago, ‘It’s a miracle we’ve survived this far.’ ” She noted that CNMI retirees were still getting 100% of their pensions instead of the 75% required by the settlement agreement.
And so ladies and gentlemen of the 21st Legislature, once the current level of federal aid ends — what then?
Scrap the retirees’ 25% benefit? Shut down several government offices/programs? (Which?) Lay off government employees? (Who?) Raise taxes and fees? (How much?)
Anyone?
In other news
AT a recent House budget hearing on the Department of Corrections, a lawmaker wanted to know if Corrections has a “rehabilitation program.” The lawmaker said there is still a “high number” of people going to prison which makes the lawmaker “doubt the availability or effectivity of the rehabilitation program.”
But how do we know that there’s a “high number” of people going to prison? Where are the numbers? How do we know if a “rehabilitation program” works — or not? And are lawmakers willing to provide Corrections more funding so it can have more or better rehabilitation programs?
Another lawmaker was concerned about 1) the presence of illegal drugs in the Corrections facility, and 2) Corrections officers who are using illegal drugs.
Well.
From a news item posted on the Marshall Project Journalism and Justice website in Nov. 2019:
“I guess I was a little naive when I was first locked up, thinking it must be hard to obtain drugs and get high while incarcerated. But to my shock, it was as common or more so than on the outside. (I’m probably in the minority in here because I don’t use, it’s that pervasive.)”
The title of the article: “The Never-Ending Drug Hustle Behind Bars”
As for the writer, he is serving time at the Greensville Correctional Center in southern Virginia.
Here’s the title of a more recent article (posted in March 2021):
“Texas Prisons Stopped In-Person Visits and Limited Mail. Drugs Got in Anyway.”
From the website of Zoukis Consulting Group, a federal prison consulting team:
“In every prison system across the [U.S.] drugs are smuggled in by inmates and guards alike, and alcohol is brewed somewhere within the facility…. This is what happens when you lock up people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Alcohol and drugs find their way into prison.”
So, concerned CNMI lawmakers, what’s to be done then?
