Asunton Koñgresso (Beginning this week, the House Leadership will feature issues on this column every Monday. Occasionally, issues may be discussed in the vernacular they are understood by the greater majority of the local readership.)

Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, a veteran in the local political arena, is unfazed by the difficult task at hand–putting substantive issues into proper perspective–for review and consideration in this legislature.

“The current tax system was last considered some 22 years ago when it was first introduced as the Mirror Image Tax system, a system that is both arcane and too complicated for both employees and employers,” he said.

“It is for this reason that I have introduced the ‘Tax Reform Commission’ to review a flat tax system that would be good for business and convenient for low wage earners”, he said.

“The review process will require meeting with the US Internal Revenue [System] Service to delink the NMI from IRC.” “We will try to maintain the single filing requirement after delinkage”, Speaker Fitial related. “Hopefully, we should be able to simplify tax filing for both employees and businesses here”.

“The House Leadership is highly proactive in the review of policy measures designed to institute positive economic reform,” Fitial said. “We already have seen the introduction of House Bill 12-39 which would spur healthy competition among businesses here,” he said, adding, “we will eventually change the 20 percent managerial posts for indigenous workers up to 30 percent”.

Fitial reiterated that the measure is “pro-business and would also do away with protectionist laws that have done nothing but discourage current and prospective lasting investments in the NMI”. He said the signal emanating from protectionist laws have stifled progressive expansion of current investments and discouraged investors of substance from funneling venture capital into the islands.

“These negativity which run against the grain of the free enterprise system have contributed significantly to the economic contraction we’ve seen here since 1997,” he pointed out. “This neglect must change for the better in that unless we give the private sector some room to maneuver with fresh capital infusion, we will be courting bankruptcy during the first decade of this millennium,” Fitial said. “Bankruptcy and economic hardship isn’t the legacy I wish to leave behind for our children”.

The Speaker also said that he will be introducing tax break or tax incentives proposal quite similar to those given major investors by the Guam Economic Development Authority (GEDA).

“It’s a definite approach to wealth and jobs creation where we waive taxes for investors for the initial phase of their investment”, he said. “As more big industries invest here luring them with tax waiver under the proposed measure, more tax revenues will be generated from income tax coming from jobs created by new employers”, he related. “That they have opted to bring fresh investments into the NMI, it is our responsibility to grant them the means to recoup initial capital investments so that they can eventually expand as business activities increase”.

“These economic reform measures and others that will subsequently be introduced for public review should be able to cut down the cost of doing business here, create more investments and jobs for the hundreds of high school graduates who exit school campuses annually around June; generate more revenue and funnel them to essential services such as education, health and public safety,” he related. “The tide waits for no man”.

“The days of the cargo cult syndrome are long gone and only we can chart a brighter future for our children via measures now going through various committees in the House of Representatives and eventually the Senate,” he said. “I have a responsibility to my constituency, the people of these islands, and it is only fitting that we work with one another toward making these islands a better place to live”.

Meanwhile the various standing committees are busy plowing through measures assigned to them. It includes a review of the budget for FY 2000 by the House Appropriations Committee headed by Rep. Tony Camacho, tourism related issues, education, health, federal matters, and utilities. “We will go into issues under review by the various standing committees up ahead”, Speaker Fitial said.