Saipan Tribune

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

$40K for Rota patients, other programs proposed

Days before Gov. Benigno R. Fitial line-item vetoed a local bill reducing allotments for Rota patients and other programs from $20,000 to only $4,120, Rep. Teresita A. Santos (Ind-Rota) pre-filed another local measure that appropriates $40,000 from poker revenues.

Santos' House Local Bill 17-91 was pre-filed on Sept. 25 but has yet to be introduced after the last House session on Oct. 17 focused only on voting on a resolution impeaching the governor. The impeachment resolution failed to pass with only nine of 14 “yes” votes needed to move it to the Senate for trial.

As of yesterday, there's no telling when the House will have its next session. Rota patients have been waiting for their monthly subsidy since at least June.

Santos' new local bill seeks to appropriate $21,600 for 16 Rota patients on dialysis and those that are terminally ill, at $450 each for June, July, and August 2012.

Another $9,000 is proposed for 10 on dialysis and terminally ill Rota patients for $300 each for June, July, and August.

The measure also seeks to appropriate $4,000 for the payment of some Rota employees' retroactive salary.

Another $4,000 is sought for the Rota Municipal Scholarship Fund, and $1,400 for the Rota Liaison Office's fuel and lubrication expenses.

Early this month, Santos and Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) separately asked the governor to reinstate the funding for Rota patients and other programs that Fitial slashed when he signed Rota Local Law 17-23 with line-item vetoes reducing allotments from $20,000 to only $4,120.