Unsurprisingly
THE bill that renamed the medical referral program “Health Network Program” was touted as, more or less, the “solution” to the program’s “long-standing issues.” However, it did not address the biggest and most persistent of those “issues” which is lack of funding. The legislation was like a shiny brand new car with interior, exterior and safety accessories: ambient lighting, alloy wheels, chrome garnish, parking camera/sensors — the works. But it has no fuel tank.
CHCC, which is now administering the program, again, is reminding the administration and the Legislature that they have to appropriate funds for medical referrals.
Whatever you may call it, the program’s availability is a virtual article of faith for a vast majority of voters.
By now, moreover, newly elected officials should have already realized that 1) lack of funding is the CNMI government’s foremost problem; and 2) the local economy must improve to generate the revenue that can pay for the CNMI government’s (so many) obligations which include medical referrals.
One more thing. If legislation could “solve” problems like the government’s perennial lack of funding, a previous legislature would have passed it already, and we would now be gathered around a campfire, holding hands and singing Kumbaya my Lord.
Regarding government board members, commissioners
BESIDES passing the bill to reduce the BOE quorum (but with members of at least two senatorial districts present), lawmakers may also want to consider a proposal that, as far as we know, was first mentioned by former Gov. Lang Tenorio. He said the terms of appointed government board members and commissioners should be made conterminous with the term of the governor who appointed them.
Even though their members are appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate, government boards and commissions are supposed to be “independent.” And, ahem, they are. (Wink-wink.) But as former Governor Tenorio would put it, the governor ends up taking the blame for any ill-advised actions of these boards and commissions — even if their members were appointed by his predecessor.
At any rate, the new governor says he wants a clean slate and has asked his predecessors’ board/commission appointees to resign. Not all of them have done so, mainly because they serve a fixed term set by law.
The CNMI’s newly elected lawmakers, however, can change the law. If they decide to do so, they should also conduct public hearings first.
Governing through polls
A LAWMAKER has introduced a bill after an online survey indicated that most of the respondents would support the measure. To be sure, elected officials must consult with their constituents, and “listen to them.” But there’s a very good reason why voters elect officials to make important decisions on the voters’ behalf. Voters are busy with their own lives. They do not always have the time to study and ponder the “big” and/or “important” issues. And that’s where their elected officials come in. These individuals are supposed to know more about the issues. However, conducting hearings and seeking comments from their constituents are not enough. They must also reach out to the experts on both sides of the issue, and learn about the results of similar measures or policies implemented in the past or in other jurisdictions. Elected officials must continually educate themselves so they can, in turn, educate the public about the issues.
If elected officials would simply rely on what the polls say (never mind how reliable they are) or what their most vocal constituents tirelessly tell them, then we might as well replace the Legislature with an agency that conducts regular polls and allow respondents to text their votes, a la “American Idol.”
