Editorials

By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor Don’t even think about it IN early 2023, the administration announced that the CNMI would wean itself off overreliance on a single tourism market, but instead we ended up overrelying on another market — which has since cratered. Beginning in June 2024, CNMI arrivals…

OVER a month ago, the local Society of Professional Journalists called on the CNMI attorney general — an elected official — to “engage with the press in an open forum regarding issues of public concern.”

DPS says it is “on alert for the social consequences of disrupted livelihoods, particularly in households already struggling to meet basic needs.” Fair enough. But we hope DPS will also remind the public that, say, the suspension of food stamps is not an excuse to commit crimes — and that those who…

IN its third year in office, the administration has released a single audit report on the federal funds spent by the CNMI government from FYs 2020 to 2022. Considering that some of the previous administration’s key finance and budget officials are still in charge of finance and budget matters, we s…

IT is good news that taxes collected from the construction industry will provide additional revenue to the CNMI government — an “early Christmas,” indeed, to paraphrase the governor. But this welcome increase in tax collections is not enough, and construction activity cannot go on forever.

THERE are at least three cost-cutting measures that lawmakers can act on with dispatch. The first is the unpaid holidays for government employees. If, as argued by the Senate counsel, a gubernatorial directive does not suffice, then the Legislature should introduce and pass an enabling law.

PERHAPS if CNMI officials in all branches of government, including autonomous agencies, “volunteered” to take a 10 or 20% pay cut, there would be more funds available for public education, public safety, or public health.