House open to pared-down budget proposal

The majority bloc in the House of Representatives is willing to support a budget proposal by a Senate committee that would cut the funding of most government agencies.

House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr. said yesterday that implementing budget cuts was the responsible thing to do, given the declining resources available to the Commonwealth.

“It would seem difficult to make cuts in an election year. However, if the resources are not there, it would be responsible to live within your means. If the Senate is really sincere about tightening the CNMI’s belt, then that could be done,” Reyes said.

The Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs was supposed to present its budget proposal for fiscal year 2006 to the rest of the entire Senate yesterday morning. But the panel failed to finalize the draft, causing the session to be cancelled.

Sen. Joseph Mendiola, chairman of the committee, earlier bared plans to implement a 17-percent budget cut across the board.

Only the Public School System, the departments of Public Health and Public Safety, the Northern Marianas College, and the Scholarship Office are expected to be spared from the budget cut.

PSS will receive $50 million, a 35-percent increase compared with its current budget. The four other agencies will receive the same amount they are getting under the continuing resolution.

“Budget cuts are always a sensitive issue. But I suppose there might be some areas you can cut without terribly damaging an agency or hurting people. You can cut expenses on travel, cell phone, vehicles, leases, and purchases,” Reyes said.

He also said that it was important to involve agency leaders in the decision making process, at least in relation to cutting specific programs.

Mendiola had already assured agency administrators that they would be given leeway in allocating their own budgets.

“That would be ideal because the agency leaders would be in a better position to know how much they can really afford, as opposed to elected representatives who don’t work on the agency’s operations on a day-to-day basis,” Reyes said.

The government has been operating on a $213 million continuing resolution since FY2003.

For FY2006, the Babauta administration submitted a $225.8-million budget package that included revenue enhancement measures.

H.C.R. 14-3 rejected the proposed revenue enhancement package and identified only $206 million for FY 2006.