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OPA: Some board members paid $30K
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Posted on Apr 12 2005
Some members of government boards are getting as much as $30,000 in yearly compensation for participating in meetings—more than triple the annual salary of some civil service employees.
Public auditor Michael Sablan said this was one of the preliminary findings that his office made from a survey of compensations being received by members of 46 autonomous agencies.
Sablan said some individuals have “clearly abused” their board membership, which was supposed to be voluntary, by earning $30,000 from attending meetings alone.
There are some government employees who earn less than $10,000, he said.
“Rep. Arnold I. Palacios has taken an interest in regulating boards through legislation. With his help, we are looking at adopting standard and consistent regulations for board activities,” Sablan said.
To assist in formulating the bill, OPA is currently conducting a survey of the compensation being received by members of 24 government boards, three task forces, six commissions, 12 councils, and one committee.
Sablan said the bill would set standards and regulations for board compensation, as well as a policy for travels and per diem payment. A clear definition of what constitutes official and compensable meetings is expected to be included in the bill.
The measure would provide separate standards for different types of boards. In particular, the planned legislation would establish higher public accountability standards for public corporations such as the Marianas Public Lands Authority, for instance, than advisory and licensing agencies such as the Medical Profession Licensing Board, the State Independent Living Council, and the State Mental Health Planning Council.
Further, the proposed legislation would impose stricter rules for the production of minutes of board meetings.
It has been proposed that compensation be tied up with the production of minutes, Sablan said. In other words, board members will not receive their fee for a particular meeting until they have adopted the minutes of that meeting.
