Lesson learned? Don’t count on it
ASKED why the Saipan delegation acted on the e-gaming fee hike bill without a public hearing and without comments from those who would have to pay the additional fee, one of its proponents said, with a straight face, that they made a “policy call.”
In other words, they passed the bill because they wanted to, and they could. The governor, for his part, should not have signed it, but he did.
Among those who eagerly and fervently supported this ill-conceived and ill-advised measure were politicians who had earlier proclaimed that there should be “more transparency” in the legislative process, and more consultations with the public and stakeholders through public hearings, etc. But that was when they were still the minority bloc. Now that they’re in charge, they see many things quite differently. That’s what power usually does even — or especially — to the righteous and the upstanding. Under their regime someone will eventually burn at the stake, and it’s not going to be them.
In the face of withering criticism for their excuseless and abysmal failure to do their job properly as legislators, the fee-hike proponents simply doubled down — and questioned the integrity if not the morality of those who dared ridicule the boneheaded premises of the measure (S.L.L. 22-6).
To begin with, the delegation should have conducted public hearings before acting on the local bill. They should have solicited comments from the businesses that would have to pay more because this wasteful government was, and still is, living way beyond its means. The Saipan delegation could have save us all — including the affected private sector workers — a lot of grief if it only reviewed and deliberated and sought feedback before making a decision on the local bill. That’s supposed to be Lawmaking 101. But, then and now, it is usually observed by the majority — whichever party or political bloc — selectively.
What a waste of time and effort for everyone involved.
So, here we go again. Lawmaking to clean up the mess that lawmaking created.
What a racket.
Ominous
DURING the DLNR budget hearing conducted by the House Ways and Means Committee, the department secretary reminded lawmakers that once the ARPA funds have been spent, about 50 DLNR employees may have to lose their jobs.
That’s for one department only.
But no, we’re not going to tell lawmakers to “do something.” Based on what they have done so far, or what they say they want to do, it is more than likely that they could only make things so much worse by “doing something.”
Still, word to the wise. To collect more local government revenue, don’t just quarrel over cutting an ever shrinking revenue pie. Try to find out how to make a bigger pie. In consultation with the islands’ (legitimate and law-abiding) businesses, identify and then repeal or amend laws and/or rules that are making it harder for them to survive in these tough economic times. And ask them what else can be done to make the islands more inviting to new (and legitimate) investors.
The fable about “the goose that laid the golden eggs” may strike many of us as absurd — until we learn what governments and politicians all over the world, and throughout known human history, have actually done with such geese.
