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Re: 80-percent salary increases for elected officials
A college graduate returns home to her beloved island of Saipan. She wants to be a teacher. In order to do so, she earns her teaching certificate, passes Praxis I and Praxis II, and then lands her dream job, earning $33,289.35. What most people don’t know is that she owes $25,000 in college loans, and her parents owe over $80,000 in Parent Plus loans to help their daughter through college.
Without the 80-percent salary increase that raises their salaries to $70,000 annually, elected officials in the House and Senate still make more than this teacher at $39,300. An elected official has zero requirements for education or experience and is not required to pass any tests. An elected official is not even required to have a high school diploma and only needs to meet age and residency requirements and not be convicted of a felony.
Furthermore, elected officials also are able to lease cars, get gas cards, travel, get cell phones, computers, new furniture for the office, and other benefits under their $90,000 annual discretionary funds. A teacher does not get a discretionary fund.
While the CNMI Legislature operates as a part-time Legislature, their salaries are much higher than the average salaries of part-time legislators in the United States, which is $18,449.
The average starting salaries for teachers in the CNMI are not too far behind the national average starting salaries in the U.S., which is at $38,617.
How much will the big salary increases for elected and appointed officials and the restoration of the governor and lieutenant governor’s annuity cost taxpayers additionally every year? About $2.3 million. That is $2.3 million that could have been used for DPS and DFEMS and first responders’ hazard pay; or to help NMTI; or to help CHCC or medical referral.
With the uncertainty of the CW-1 program being extended, the risk of losing the parole program for Chinese tourists and a possible trade war with China looming, and the pressing need to fund critical local agencies, now is not the time to give lavish raises to elected and appointed officials. Unfortunately, such increases are already included in the fiscal year 2019 budget we received.
What are your thoughts?
