Teno seeks review of housing allowance

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday asked the Legislature to review existing rental rates of private properties in order to establish the base for housing allowance that will be granted to government employees receiving such benefit.

According to the governor, since last year his administration has been considering reducing the housing allowance for off-island hires because of budgetary constraints confronting the government.

CNMI has chose to provide some government employees the cash equivalent of such perks because most of its properties are dilapidated and in poor condition. Refurbishing these buildings, however, would cost the financially-troubled island government more, Tenorio explained.

“The Legislature is looking into this,” the CNMI leader said in an interview. “That’s one of the plans,” he added, referring to ways of bringing down expenses.

The House of Representatives has moved closer to voting on a proposal scrapping housing benefits to all public sector employees, including those recruited from the mainland, in efforts to reduce expenditures of the government by at least $2 million annually.

Offered by Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez, the initial bill was overhauled by the House committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations, which removed a separate proposal imposing salary caps.

In its report adopted by the House at yesterday’s session, the committee said the housing benefits granted to some government employees is “unnecessary, costly, discriminatory and subject to abuse.”

The existing laws stipulating subsidized and free housing or housing allowance to select employees , mostly off-island hires, must be repealed, according to the report, citing it as “very generous” as compared with other governments.

Although lawmakers acknowledged that the housing package is being used by the government to attract professionals from abroad to work on the island, they maintained it is discriminating against local employees who are as qualified as they are.

Presently, the island government provides between $7,000 to $10,000 per annum to each employee receiving the housing benefits, costing the government up to $2 million every year.

“This money should be diverted to needier programs in education, health and safety,” the committee said in its review of Senate Bill 11-61 which passed the upper house last year.

It is also discriminatory for employees hired on the island who are not given the same benefits compared to the off-island recruits and who must pay their own housing from their own basic salary.

The proposal “will put an end to the discrimination and abuse of the present housing policy by eliminating housing benefits to all employees working in the CNMI regardless of point of hire,” according to the JGO recommendation.

The legislative action comes on the heels of dwindling revenues of the government as a result of the prolonged economic crisis confronting the Northern Marianas.