Independent agencies look for funds

Government independent agencies have been knocking on the doors of the Legislature for additional funds in fear the lower budget proposed by the administration under the Fiscal Year 2000 spending package may wipe out their operations.

Rep. Karl T. Reyes, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said these agencies have extended “verbal request,” asking them to meet with him to tackle the funding shortfall.

The independent programs, like the Manhoben Center and Karidat, are operating on a “skeletal” budget, and a decrease in the spending limit would hamper their services, according to Reyes.

Some agencies have suggested getting back some of the money from their previous allotment which they have yet to disburse “so that they can use it again,” Reyes pointed out.

“It’s hard to say yes or no on those requests because, normally year-to-year budget means that if you don’t use it, you lose it,” he explained. “They are re-appropriated for other expenditures of the government.”

Likewise, the inability of the government to funnel more funds into these independent programs is compounded by declining monetary assistance granted by some federal agencies.

As part of its review, the Ways and Means Committee, which will soon start deliberating on the proposed budget of $206.7 million for the next fiscal year, is set to look into the programs being carried out on the island to see if they can still expect federal funding.

“We will probably look at those federal agencies that are closing down and scaling back. If we know that they are going to scale back (their operations) here also, we will probably try to merge those other agencies together with the existing similar programs,” Reyes said.

For instance, the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) may need additional money from the CNMI government if federal officials increase their share of the funds in an effort to expand the program.

Reyes said if JTPA is entitled to receive portion of revenues from poker fees, then the committee must identify these sources for allocation to the summer job program benefiting local students.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has slashed the budget for each department or agency for the next fiscal year to mirror steep drop in revenue collections, which are projected to reach $206 million for FY 2000 or about two percent lower than this year’s spending level.

He has attributed this decline to continuous harsh economic conditions in the Northern Marianas which has been reeling from the fallout of the prolonged recession in Asia, its main source of tourism income, since late 1997.