Govt shutdown averted as $101M budget is enacted

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres signs the budget bill into law at the Office of the Governor’s conference room early yesterday morning. (OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR)

The House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Office of the Governor worked through the night and early morning yesterday to enact a budget law for fiscal year 2021 that allocates a little over $101 million for government operations and averted a potential government shutdown.

Tedious work by the Legislature’s conference committee in reaching “a middle ground” between the Senate and the House of Representatives and their disagreements on the government’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 led to the passing of an appropriations bill that allocates $101,032,218 for the government’s operations and activities for fiscal year 2021 early yesterday morning and its subsequent signing by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres into law.

After reviews by the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Management and Budget, Torres signed House Bill 21-124, SD2, CCSI into Public Law 21-35 at 4:15am.

Torres and Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios thanked the Legislature for their efforts to pass the budget bill, despite its 11th hour deliberations and passage.

Torres said in a statement that his administration is committed to revitalizing the CNMI economy “through strengthening the government’s tools toward economic diversification and resilience.”

“Revitalization of our infrastructure to harden against disasters. Revitalization of our community through fostering ownership for the islands we call home,” the governor said.

For now, public services will keep running, allowing government employees to work as the CNMI navigates through the COVID-19 pandemic, Torres said.

Torres said he and Palacios were encouraged when they received news that the Legislature’s conference committee had adopted their report.

Torres said he, Attorney General Edward Manibusan, deputy attorney general Lillian Tenorio, Office of Management and Budget special assistant Virginia Villagomez, senior policy adviser Robert Hunter, and other officials remained ready overnight, awaiting the votes by both chambers on the budget bill.

“We committed through the early morning to ensuring a budget was enacted before the work day to ensure a shutdown was averted,” Torres said.

Palacios said there are some needs unmet by the budget reduction, but the hard work of providing essential services will continue. “We must take leadership in not just surviving with less but putting in the hard work in creating more,” Palacios said.

The joint Senate and House conference committee completed their “product” but not without a drama after failing to get a unanimous vote when Rep. Joseph Lee Pan Guerrero (R-Saipan), who is a member of the three-man House team on the committee, voted against its adoption.

After a brief discussion during an emergency session, all nine senators voted “yes” for the passage of the budget bill in the form of House Bill 21-124, SD2, CCS1.

Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota), who walked out last week during the Senate’s passage of its version of the bill, voted “yes” with strong reservations.

Before the House’s turn to vote during the emergency session, a copy of the bill was immediately forwarded to Torres, who was waiting in the Office of the Governor’s conference room.

Discussions in the House were long as Reps. Tina Sablan (D-Saipan) and Sheila Babauta (D-Saipan) raised a lot of questions.

At 2:05am yesterday, the House voted 18-2 for the adoption and passage of the bill.

Reps. Sablan and Edwin K. Propst (D-Saipan) voted against it. Propst, who resigned yesterday, was quiet throughout the proceedings.

Guerrero, who is a member of the conference committee but voted against the “product’s” adoption, later voted for the passage of the bill.

After the conference committee adopted its “product,” Senate vice president Judge U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian), who led the Senate conference committee team, recognized the leadership of the Senate and the House for agreeing to wait this long into the wee hours to entertain the work.

House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Ivan A. Blanco (R-Saipan), who led the House’s team in the conference committee, said it wasn’t easy working with different numbers, long days and nights, before finally coming to an agreement at the 10th hour.

“I’m happy about that, that we’re able to get a product out of the House and I understand also that the Senate passed the bill,” he said. “It was not an easy exercise. We’re happy that we got something up.”

Blanco said because of the reprogramming authority they gave the governor, he can reprogram funds for the overtime of essential employees like police officers.

“So those are the reasons why we support that portion because we understand there will be shortfalls. We don’t know what’s going to happen next fiscal year,” he said.

Blanco said it is uncertain when this pandemic is going to end, so all these planning that they put in the bill to fund agencies and departments at this level could still change. “It could get worse, it could get better. So that is why it’s very important [that we give] that reprogramming authority [to] the governor,” he said.

At the moment, the declaration of emergency already gives the governor 100% reprogramming authority, Blanco said, but specifically to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the new language governing the reprogramming authority, this gives Torres the flexibility to move money to other agencies that may have shortfalls, he said.

Sen. Teresita A. Santos (Ind-Rota), who was a member of the conference committee, said the deliberations were tedious; however, it led to a product of a compromise that both chambers adopted.

“It is not a perfect budget, and it may not address all the requests of our departments and agencies with the very limited financial resources for appropriation but at least we now have a budget for fiscal year 2021,” Santos said.

Rep. Sablan said the unlimited reprogramming authority that the committee conferees gave the governor “is really giving up the power of the purse.”

“This is a blank check to the governor to reprogram any and all funds with the Executive Branch as he sees fit,” she added.

Sablan said if the governor takes this broad interpretation, then it’s 100% reprogramming power for $75 million.

Sablan argued that in this incredibly challenging fiscal crisis, what is needed is not to give the governor more flexibility but for the Legislature to exert more control over the public purse, more oversight, more monitoring, and holding the governor to the law.

“I cannot imagine, under these circumstances especially, why a 100% reprogramming power is necessary or prudent,” she said.

Press secretary Kevin Bautista, said in an interview that Torres and Palacios officially received the budget bill at 2:08am Thursday after the House voted to pass it at 2:05am. Bautista said the Office of the Governor received an advanced copy of the conference committee’s report at about 11:50pm Wednesday, or 10 minutes before the start of the new fiscal year.

Bautista said Torres and Palacios earlier mentioned that they are not going to let this government shut down before the beginning of the working day.

“Our understanding is that because the Legislature passed the budget, officially passed the budget at 2:08am, we’re going to do our due diligence to ensure that we have a balanced budget enacted into law before the beginning of the working day at 7:30am,” Bautista said.