Finally
IT took over a year before the administration and the Legislature can say that they will have to act soon to address the CNMI’s urgent fiscal challenges. They mentioned these challenges during the campaign season in 2022, and shortly after they were sworn in last year. They were supported by more than a majority of the electorate. They were firmly in charge. They had political momentum and the votes needed to approve major policy changes or key legislation. But only now — in an election year — are they telling us that “we must confront our challenges openly and work together to find solutions.”
They know what the problem is: an economy that hasn’t recovered yet. They know that the tourism industry relies on three major markets, but only one has shown signs of life. They know, too, that there is no quick way to boost arrivals, which depend on so many factors that are beyond the CNMI’s control. Early last year, the administration decided to place its bet on the military buildup and federal doleouts, which, it turns out, aren’t enough. (And many of them are for specific spending priorities of the Biden White House.) To hold the fort while we wait for the arrival of the federal cavalry, the governor proposed tax hikes — after saying he didn’t want to punish taxpayers for the government’s misspending ways.
Raising taxes in this economy is unlikely to generate additional revenue as the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and HANMI carefully explained to CNMI leaders in October. But the administration and the House will continue to push for higher taxes because these will allow them to make (inflated) revenue projections that will justify the government’s current — and unsustainable — spending levels.
Meanwhile, at the legislative building, the governor’s allies have formed a “working group” to “find solutions” to the CNMI’s economic woes — a task that should been their priority after they were sworn in last year.
Meanwhile, Finance, the executive department that is supposed to oversee and/or manage the CNMI government’s finances, is in disarray, which does not inspire confidence at all.
Meanwhile, everyone’s adjusting to the CNMI’s dismal economic reality, which includes rising business costs, rising prices, labor shortages and a shrinking tax base.
Everyone, that is, except the government.
In their joint statement on Sunday, the CNMI leaders said “in confronting fiscal challenges, we must approach them with compassion….” We hope they do not mean compassion for the political careers of elected officials seeking re-election or higher office this year.
As in previous election years, arithmetic will once again clash with politics, and the likely losers are taxpayers and consumers, again.
Above and beyond
THE airport employees and the CPA chief didn’t have to, but they did anyway.
Last week, a foreigner and his two-year-old daughter were stranded at the Saipan airport for unspecified reasons. They were clearly distressed. They were seen sleeping in the hallway. The airport employees provided them with food. Upon learning that the child had fever, the CPA executive director, Leo Tudela, brought her to the hospital, and rented a hotel room for her and her father. Mr. Tudela paid the bills out of his own pocket. At the airport, he urged an airline executive to allow the father and his daughter to board the next flight so they could reunite with the child’s mother. His request was granted.
It is the authorities’ job to strictly enforce applicable rules. That is how it should be. To be sure, there is no enforceable legal rule that requires us to be kind to our fellow human beings. But in the CNMI, however bad things may seem, there are always people like Mr. Tudela and the airport’s other Good Samaritans, who will go out of their way to show compassion because, rule or no rules, it’s the right thing to do.
