Chamber brands 3-year limit amendment as band-aid bill

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce labeled the latest legislative measure concerning the three-year limit law as simply a “band-aid” solution to a problem that runs deeper than it appears.

Chamber President Anthony Pellegrino noted that although businessmen appreciate Senate Vice President Thomas Villagomez’s attempt to resolve the issue concerning Public Law 11-69, his bill still does not solve anything.

For one, Mr. Pellegrino noted, Senate Bill 12-109 does not answer the question why a nonresident worker who has stayed on the island for three straight years should exit the Commonwealth for six months.

“Quit stalling and just pull the trigger,” was the remark of Richard Pierce, chamber vice president when asked about SB 12-109. He also said that even without PL 11-69, nonresident workers already have to go through a stringent renewal process each year, which gives ample chance for locals to apply for the position.

“People recruited after the designated cut-off would still be subjected to the same impractical and costly burden of being replaced, repatriated and brought back again. SB 12-109 doesn’t solve anything. It is just less severe than the full implementation of PL 11-69,” Mr. Pierce commented

Mr. Pellegrino, for his part, said the best solution is still to repeal the three-year limit in its entirety. But he stressed that the business sector is not deaf to the concerns of senators who are worried they may appear to be backsliding in the eyes of Washington if they pass House Bill 12-317 or its mirror bill in the Senate, SB 12-044.

To the senators, Mr. Pellegrino said, the chamber is willing to have a comprise. He pointed to Senator Ramon S. Guerrero’s bill, SB 12-108, as that compromise.

Mr. Guerrero’s bill seeks a two-year moratorium on the enactment of PL 11-69, pending a study by an independent team on its impact on the economy and community.

Senate President Paul A. Manglona vowed the upper chamber would pass SB 12-108 during a Senate session this week. But Senator Villagomez’s bill has added another twist in the already muddled picture on the issue over the three-year limit law.

Mr. Villagomez last week introduced SB 12-109 which essentially exempts nonresident workers who were employed in the CNMI before the three-year limit law took effect in the Commonwealth in March 5, 1999.

In the past, Mr. Pierce, who also sits as executive director of the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association, has come out in the open and aired his irritation over the Legislature’s seeming inaction in the repeal of the three-year limit law.