4 mayors: Amend ‘touchback’

The four mayors of the CNMI have united in solidarity with the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the business community across the Marianas to advocate and express their support for the passage H.R. 1420, which seeks to delay the “touchback” requirement.

The “touchback” provision under the NMI U.S. Workforce Act of 2018 mandates CW-1 permit holders to leave the CNMI for at least 30 days before applying for their third renewal.

The four CNMI mayors—Rota Mayor Aubry M. Hocog, Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho, and Northern Islands Mayor Valentino N. Taisacan—believe that this rule, combined with extensive processing times, is creating uncertainties for businesses in the CNMI, which is significantly disrupting labor availability and economic stability.

“While the CNMI has made great strides to train our local workforce to reduce reliance on foreign labor, the fact is there are a significant number of positions that remain unfilled due either to lack of skilled labor or human resources to fill critical positions in the service industry, which are vital to our tourism industry and our economic sustainability,” said the mayors in a joint statement.

“We need to have a commonsense approach to this critical issue based on data that compares the human resources needs of various industries versus the actual availability of an employable market pool. The business sector is the backbone of our economy, and they are telling us that this current requirement is impacting project timelines and increasing [the] cost of doing business. We are also hearing from the public sector that this rule is having an impact on the delivery of critical health care services.

“We applaud the efforts of Northern Marianas College, NMI Technological Institute and the [CNMI] Department of Labor for their aggressive efforts to provide training for our local workforce. We stand committed to support and promote these efforts through our respective offices. We encourage all our citizens to avail of the programs and services that they provide to develop and improve their job skills.

As we continue the efforts to further reduce our reliance on foreign labor, we must be cognizant of our current labor needs and take a commonsense approach to ensure that the CNMI has an adequate supply of labor to fill jobs across both the public and private sector, which are critical to economic sustainability. We believe that amending the touchback provision in the interim is necessary to the CNMI’s economic stability, especially since our economy has not recovered from the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.

“We, the unified NMI mayors, have come together to work to find solutions on matters that directly impact our respective municipalities to alleviate some of uncertainties and advocate for policies that allow for economic sustainability across the CNMI. Together, we can forge a path forward [that is] focused on achieving economic stability, thereby empowering all of our businesses, which will ultimately result in securing a prosperous future for all our citizens.

Joe C. Guerrero, who is president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said their organization was honored to participate in a recent meeting with the CNMI’s mayors to discuss the anticipated damaging economic impacts as a result of the touchback provision of the NMI U.S. Workforce Act.

“Along with NMI mayors, we stand unified with [Delegate] Gregorio Kilili [C.] Sablan in pursuit of [the] passage of H.R. 1420, which, if passed, would provide crucial and timely relief to our struggling small businesses. The Chamber also stand unified with other CNMI leaders, Tinian Chamber of Commerce, and Rota Chamber of Commerce in continuing to build our local workforce capacity,” he added. (PR)