Passage of DPH hiring extension bill delayed

The passage of the bill extending the hiring of nonresident workers at the Department of Health was delayed due to an amendment to grant the same exemption to the Department of Public Works.

“We were inclined to pass the DPH extension but they suddenly included DPW. Because of that, we voted to defer action and refer it back to the committee,” said Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola.

Mendiola said the DPH bill requires immediate action because the department’s authority to hire foreign staff ends in September this year.

“Without this legislation, they can’t renew contracts,” said Mendiola.

He said he favors addressing the DPW extension request in a separate bill.

Meantime, Sen. Henry H. San Nicolas, chair of the Committee on Health, Welfare, and Education, said he would push for the extension of DPH alien hiring to five years only—not 10 years as proposed by the department.

“I believe that in five years, they would have enough local workforce. We have students and they are graduating,” he said.

House Bill 14-344, as authored by Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez, aims to extend the sunset provision imposed by Public Law 10-4 in the hiring of alien workers at DPH for another 10 years “because there continues to be a shortage of locally available physicians, midwives, nurses, dentists, technicians, and other healthcare professionals.

At the same time, the bill wants to exempt the department from the one-year contract period, saying this limitation for nonresident workers “is too costly and counterproductive.”

It cited that the DPH is obligated to shoulder the repatriation of those who opt to leave the department after the expiration of a one-year contract. This cost covers the staff’s immediate families.

Further, DPH spends for the plane tickets of new personnel and their immediate families and the shipping of their belongings to the CNMI.

The DPW had also requested the Legislature to further extend its hiring of nonresident workers, mostly engineers.

Two years ago, a law was passed extending this authority for two years or until September 2005.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta then signed into law Senate Bill 13-157, which amended 3 CMC section 4434, allowing the DPW to hire nonresident professionals for technical and professional positions until Sept. 30, 2005.

The governor, in his communication to the Legislature confirming his enactment of Public Law 13-62, noted that DPW must make sure that no more hiring extension be made after 2005 by intensifying its efforts in developing its local workforce.

There are six nonresident engineers and one architect at DPW.