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Senate supports $100M NMI Coronavirus Emergency Assistance bill
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Posted on Mar 17 2020
Senate adopted last Friday a resolution seeking support from two committees of the U.S. House of Representatives to back the Northern Mariana Islands Coronavirus Emergency Assistance Act, a legislation introduced by Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) to provide funds for general government operations in the CNMI.
“The tourism industry is the sole driver of the CNMI’s economy and COVID-19’s destructive impact on the industry has been immediate with no determinable end date,” the resolution stated.
The resolution takes root on the Senate being cognizant of the decline of revenue collections in the CNMI as a result of the global impact of the COVID-19 following the initial estimate of a $48 million approximate negative impact for FY2020 due to flight cancellations that significantly reduced the islands’ tourists.
Introduced by Sen. Teresita Santos (Ind-Rota), S.R. 21-11SS1 extends the Senate’s support to Sablan’s bill, which would appropriate $100 million to the Commonwealth.
The emergency assistance is to address the budget cuts and austerity measures being implemented as a result of the economic downturn brought about by COVID-19 outbreak.
The resolution further stressed that the Commonwealth government is in dire need for financial assistance to continue its operations and services.
“The CNMI Gov. [Ralph DLG Torres] anticipates [to be] potentially left with $20 million to run a government for a population of 53,000.”
This includes payment for police officers and vehicles, payment for the local matching share of the Medicaid and CHIP programs, support for the needs of our hospital and public school system, maintenance of the CNMI Judiciary and Legislature, payment of utilities of government facilities, and the protection of the well-being of the community and environment.
The CNMI has been under a State of Significant Emergency since late January, with Torres ordering the creation of response, quarantine, and preventive containment measures all over the islands. In February, the administration has announced the implementation of a government-wide austerity measure to generate savings to counter economic downturn brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak.
