Amendment to $24M CIP bill gains ground in Senate

The Senate will amend the proposed bill appropriating more than $24 million in capital improvement projects on the three islands, changing provisions on expenditure and reprogramming authority which is expected to draw ire from the Tenorio administration.

A Senate session earlier scheduled today where the measure had been included in the calendar for passage was postponed at the last-minute to Tuesday.

Members met yesterday to discuss the amendment which, according to Sen. Edward U. Maratita ,will be offered by Sen. Ricardo S. Atalig.

The changes will include giving expenditure authority to resident directors of the Department of Public Works on Rota and Tinian as the initial measure passed early this month by the House restricted that function to the DPW secretary.

The two islands will also be granted reprogramming authority — a provision which Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio vetoed in the initial CIP bill that drew controversy between his administration and the Senate.

A source at the House of Representatives, however, said the amendment will meet strong opposition from the members and if it gets approval, the governor is likely to veto it.

“That is one of the major concerns raised by the governor when he vetoed the first bill,” he said.

The administration-sponsored House Bill 11-408 will set aside funds to finance priority infrastructure plans on the island — including pet projects by lawmakers — estimated to cost more than $24 million, half of which will come from the federal government.

Its passage came on the heels of a dispute on the initial CIP appropriation bill, part of which was rejected by Tenorio for fear it would compromise the integrity of the master plan.

It represents the second batch of construction grants allocated by Washington for the CNMI from the $154 million worth of projects listed under the CIP master plan.

Earlier, senators were dismayed after Tenorio line-item vetoed some of the provisions on the initial bill, leaving only the proposed prison project and the completion of the Marianas High School Gymnasium as beneficiaries of the first CIP money.

Some projects, such as the expansion of the Rota airport runway as well as improvement of the Tinian airport, that were inserted by senators at the last minute were shelved because they were not part of the master plan.

The local chief executive also vetoed granting expenditure and reprogramming authorities to municipal mayor.

But HB 11-408, a supplemental to Public Law 11-78 that set aside funds for the new prison and the gym, has reinstated funding for these projects in an apparent effort to please legislators, but settled with giving the expenditure authority only to DPW.