The separation of powers

The Department of Finance has ventured into usurping the concept of separation of powers by telling the legislature it can’t spend its own money.

Perhaps this is an issue that needs clarity of understanding of what the separation of powers entail, specifically, where exactly the department of finance is situated under the umbrella of a republican form of government.

Basically, the department of finance is under the executive branch. Although it is entrusted with record keeping and disbursement of the budget for both the legislative and judicial branches of our government, custodial responsibility doesn’t necessarily elevate it to the equivalence of any of the two branches. It remains a department under the executive branch.

Now, it is common knowledge that through oversight or purposeful neglect the legislative branch soemtime overspends its annual budget. This is where the disbursing department runs into problems with the concept of separation of powers. Does finance release funds the legislature no longer has in its coffers or does it slam the doors right then and there. Again, unless the department of finance is elevated to the equivalence of the legislative branch, it can only bow and say good luck! It’s the legislature who would answer for its excesses, not the department of finance.

To venture denying the legislature its constitutional purview in the expenditure of its budget is to arbitrarily grant the department of finance more power than what is allowed under the CNMI Constitution. As such and until the founding fathers of the principle of separation of power are proven wrong by a competent court of law of the basic tenet of three equal branches, the department of finance remains just that–a department. Therefore, it is not and will not be equal in constitutional stature as that of the legislative or judicial branch.

Mysteriously unsolicited and shallow legal opinions from the Attorney General’s Office may be offered on this issue to add to the confusion. But it doesn’t and will not change nor superficially tip the basic tenets of the concept of separation of powers in any way. If per chance the department of finance receives a legal opinion that it can deny release of legislative funds, then the author of such half-cocked opinion (and a lot of questionable opinions have been issued over the years), must be given his or her walking papers. Furthermore, a legal opinion is just that–an opinion–and must not be treated as equal in force with court issued decisions.

The obvious alternative is to ask both branches to establish their own budget and accounting office separate and apart from the executive branch’s department of finance. Until this happens, finance can only follow instructions.