Previous Story
Senator frustrated with budget process
|
Posted on Sep 07 2008
Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan has lamented the lack of cooperation from government agencies with the budget process.
Pangelinan, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs, said many agencies are unresponsive to her committee’s calls for specific information on their budget requests.
She said that personnel costs in particular require a closer look, given that over two thirds of the government’s budget will go to payroll. Personnel costs are expected to comprise $105 million of the government’s $156.7 million budget for the 2009 fiscal year.
That is why, she said, lawmakers need department heads to justify their requests for full-time employees and their compensation plan.
“They cannot even respond to a simple request to confirm the positions in their department. How could they expect us to think they can run a department? It’s all very frustrating,” said Pangelinan.
The new fiscal year is coming in less than one month. To date, the Legislature and the administration have not passed a new budget.
The Legislature and administration are now looking at a resource level of $156.7 million, a decrease of $1.7 million from the original revenue projection for the 2009 fiscal year.
The new estimate factors in the $1.7 million income from the Marianas Public Land Trust which has been earmarked for the payment of debts owed by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
The updated revenue forecast is reflected in a resolution introduced in the House of Representatives last week. The resolution, once adopted, will set the government spending limit for the period between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009.
No appropriation was passed for fiscal year 2008. The government is currently operating on the FY2007 budget level of $163 million, a figure largely believed to be more than the available resources.
