Some govt positions eliminated in FY 2010 budget

Some government positions that are currently staffed are up for elimination based on the Fitial administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget, but Rep. Ray N. Yumul said government agencies are given a chance to clarify their staffing needs.

Yumul, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, cited as an example the Department of Public Works that has some currently filled positions that are removed from the budget proposal.

“We noticed some positions were eliminated [under the budget proposal], but we’re giving department heads an opportunity to see if they agree to remove or reinstate these positions,” Yumul told Saipan Tribune.

Agencies have until the first week of June to sit down with the House Ways and Means Committee to share their concerns about the department budget reflected in the administration’s proposal. An option is to send an electronic or original copy of their budget concerns by the first week of June.

Yumul said his office has so far received separate requests for meetings from the Judiciary, Saipan Mayor’s Office, and the Public School System.

“The priority is to clarify their personnel needs, their personnel budget, and then their utility expenses, operations, and Retirement Fund contributions,” said Yumul.

Yumul’s committee and the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee chaired by Sen. Maria “Frica” Pangelinan have been reviewing the Fitial administration’s proposed FY 2010 budget since its transmittal in April.

“If we don’t receive anything from them, either a request for a meeting or document, until the first week of June, then we would assume that the governor’s budget proposal is satisfactory to the agencies,” Yumul added.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, in his State of the Commonwealth Address yesterday, said the failure to pass a timely budget for Fiscal Year 2009 resulted in Moody’s Investor Service’s recent downgrading of the CNMI’s bond rating.

The budget was passed five months into the fiscal year and the budget was achieved through a legislative override.

“More importantly, the budget was passed without the necessary austerity measures to cope with dwindling government collections. I again take this opportunity to call on the Legislature to pass needed austerity holidays to deal with our current budget challenge,” Fitial said in his address.

Yumul, in an interview later, said the House Ways and Means Committee hopes to pass the budget earlier this year.

“We don’t want that excuse anymore,” said Yumul, referring to the late passing of the budget as the cause of the CNMI’s bond rating.

Besides personnel concerns, the fiscal/ways and means committees also asked government department heads to report the number of hours of leave taken during calendar year 2008 to help in the review of the proposed budget.

On April 1, the Fitial administration proposed a $162.82 million budget for FY 2010, which runs from Oct. 1, 2009, to Sept. 30, 2010.

Earlier, Yumul’s office found out that the government hired an administrative assistant, a clinical attendant, and a conservation technician right after the enactment of the FY 2009 budget that restricts hiring until Sept. 30, 2009, except for critical positions and replacement hires.

Yumul said more people may have been hired because the list from the Office of Personnel Management covered only between March 13 and April 21.