BUDGET BATTLE Camacho to Maratita: Start with Rota

The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Antonio M. Camacho, has called on his Senate counterpart to make good on his pledge to carry out budget cuts on government payroll in nonessential services.

He dared Fiscal Affairs Committee chair Sen. Edward U. Maratita to start with Rota, his district, where he said some agencies and departments are not essential to government operations.

He cited for instance the Rota Municipal Council which has 34 employees costing taxpayers at least $695,000, but does not provide program and deliveries of public service.

In fact, the Ways and Means did not cut “what it deemed to unnecessary personnel costs” on Rota following the mayor’s concerns on unemployment in the island municipality, according to Mr. Camacho.

“[I]n the event that you plan to make major budget cuts to payroll, start with nonessential programs and personnel in your senatorial district first,” he wrote in a letter to Mr. Maratita.

The Rota senator could not be reached for comment on the letter which came after he expressed his plans to cut funding to other programs of the government in a bid to allot money for payment of salary adjustment.

Mr. Maratita has disclosed the Senate would push for guaranteed funding of between $2 million to $3 million for payment of the long-overdue salary increase for government employees under the FY 2001 budget proposal.

The lower house passed the proposed spending level of $221.66 million last month which is now awaiting action in the Senate. Mr. Maratita’s committee has begun review, although it is uncertain whether it could pass the budget before the end of this month.

He had expressed dismay that the House failed to appropriate money to meet this obligation to about 2,000 former and current employees.

Its budget proposal included provision allowing transfer of lapsed funds from personnel expenditures into an account to specifically pay these people in response to demands for pay hikes that were supposed to take effect in 1991.

But the provision is not enough to assure them as the proposal did not earmark specific amount for compensation, according to Mr. Maratita.

The government needs to raise over $9 million to pay the salary increase of about 1,915 employees on the three islands, who have been seeking compensation for the last several years.

Mr. Camacho, however, maintained the House is “very cognizant” of the salary adjustment issue, even enacting HB 12-126 providing an option for employees to convert it to vested service in the retirement program.

“Many active employees have indicated to me that they would take the opportunity to convert their salary adjustment to vested service,” he told Mr. Maratita. “This means that the total cash to be disbursed to the rest of the affected employees will be reduced to that extent.”

The legislation has been pending with the Senate for nearly tow months. “Give the House committee some credit for trying to come up with constructive solutions to problems created by previous legislatures,” said Mr. Camacho.