By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor
Reducing expenses is crucial
EVERY time the government talks about “revenue” it means taxes and fees. As has been repeatedly pointed out, imposing additional financial burdens on struggling businesses in this economy is akin to drawing blood from someone who is already anemic: it yields little, if anything, and risks a fatal outcome.
This should be plainly evident even to politicians in an election year, yet, as usual, the government may see federally funded construction projects — to shift metaphors — as low-hanging fruit.
Still, the avowed goal of the recently established Governor’s Revenue Council — a balanced budget — is laudable. Achieving it will require careful evaluation of the latest business statistics and economic data, making it necessary that the council include clear-eyed representatives from the business community who deal with basic arithmetic on a daily basis.
However, in any talks of government budget, revenue is only half of the equation. More crucial is spending, and historically, government expenditures have exceeded collections regardless of the islands’ economic condition.
In 2020, the CNMI Fiscal Response Summit came up with a set of recommendations that included significant cost-cutting measures. That was almost six years ago. Where are the pieces of legislation that would implement them?
To his credit, Sen. Manny Castro introduced a Senate legislative initiative in July 2025 to reduce the number of Senate and House seats. The measure, which must be approved by voters, was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government, and Law, where it remains pending. Why?
Vice Speaker Diego F. Camacho, a supporter of the proposal, said: “We are currently operating a bloated, inefficient, and unnecessarily expensive system. It’s time to right-size our government to match our population and fiscal reality.”
How can anyone in the Legislature disagree with that? And if they don’t, what are they waiting for? Review the legislative initiative, hold public hearings, solicit public comments, and pass it — so voters can decide in November.
Someone, for once, should say it out loud
THERE should be no labor shortage in the CNMI. What exists now is mainly due to government rules imposed by faraway bureaucrats that restrict, if not prevent, legitimate employers in the CNMI from getting the workers they need.
It is high time that CNMI leaders inform the federal government of its laws and rules that are preventing the local economy from recovering, further deepening the islands’ dependence on federal handouts.
Federal officials should be reminded that the federalization law’s intent included minimizing, to the greatest extent practicable, the potential adverse economic and fiscal effects of phasing out the Commonwealth’s nonresident contract worker program, while maximizing the islands’ potential for future economic and business growth. U.S. congressional language should mean something — or nothing at all.
The CNMI, in any case, is not alone. Other countries, American states, and jurisdictions are also experiencing shortages in certain job categories, and the main barrier is arbitrary rules that privilege politics over economics.
Once again, federal officials should be reminded that the contentious immigration issues now racking the U.S. have nothing to do with the CNMI.
As CNMI leaders have pointed out, what they are asking should not cost the U.S. government anything. The islands need only appropriate changes to current rules — changes that reflect CNMI geographic, demographic, and economic realities while still adhering to the requirements of border control and national security. That is all.
Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists’ Best in Editorial Writing Award and the NMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/.
