Villagomez vetoes austerity bill

Acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez has vetoed an austerity bill originally backed by the administration, saying that Legislature-added provisions set the bill off course from the main intent.

“The primary focus of the administration with respect to this legislation would have been to save a few hundred employees who are facing loss of jobs, while continuing to provide essential services to the community and assisting the government from any further financial burden. However, the focus has been frustrated by certain provisions of the measure,” Villagomez said.

The disapproved bill, which the Legislature rushed to passage last week, would have given the governor reprogramming power over some $5.7 million from sources outside the General Fund. It also would have restored the austerity Fridays and suspended holiday pay through the end of the fiscal year.

Further, the bill would have allowed the government to pay only 11 percent of the total payroll to the NMI Retirement Funds, instead of the 36-percent recommended by the pension program’s actuary.

One of the specific provisions opposed by Villagomez relates to the restriction on the governor’s reprogramming power. Under the bill, the governor may only reprogram funding lapses realized once the bill has become law. This means there are funds that can be reprogrammed immediately. Villagomez complained that the provision “does not grant the governor the flexibility needed to keep the government functioning.”

He also disagreed with the provision that exempts from the austerity Fridays federally paid employees who can show that a work-hour reduction will “substantially likely to result in the loss of federal funds.” He said the provision is vague, and assumes that funds saved from personnel costs cannot be diverted for use in the operation of the federal program.

Villagomez said the holiday pay suspension cannot be implemented without also suspending “double pay” for those who are required to work, instead of granting them regular pay.

The hiring freeze provision is too restrictive, he said, as it does not allow the hiring of critical employees such as law enforcement officers, doctors, or workers for revenue generating departments.

The proposal to eliminate all existing job vacancies in government may prove impractical, Villagomez said. For example, he cited a situation where there are three positions, of which one is filled at a high salary and two vacant. The bill will prevent the administration from finishing out the term of the higher paid employee, then hiring two persons at lower salaries.

“It is the intent that when the salaries of the two new employees are combined, they will not exceed the salary of the formerly higher paid employee, while providing jobs to two individuals,” he said.

But the most alarming hiring-related provision, Villagomez said, is that which would require joint legislative approval of all hiring. “[This] is not just restrictive, but intrusive of other branches of the government,” he said.

“Overall, this bill poses various impediments which would clearly prevent the continued delivery of essential public services. Had this bill focused primarily on providing the government with reprogramming authority, reinstating austerity holidays, providing for non-paid holidays, and setting the government retirement contribution rate at 11 percent, I would have approved the bill as it would have allowed for the continued delivery of essential public services, while preserving the jobs of about 350 government employees. However, as written, with the various additional sections, it would be difficult to approve this bill,” Villagomez said.