Public hearings set to tackle business reform bill • Committee to hold town meetings in 3 senatorial districts

In swift reaction to calls from the private sector, the Senate Committee on Resources, Development and Programs has scheduled public hearings on the proposed Omnibus Labor and Business Reform Act starting next week.

The town meetings will be held on June 8 on Saipan, June 9 on Rota and June 12 on Tinian where the committee expects to feel the public pulse on the measure aimed at boosting the island’s economy.

Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, chair of the committee, announced the schedule yesterday, saying that he wants public input on the legislation before considering its passage in the Senate.

HB 12-39, offered by House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, cleared the lower house last March and has since been sitting in the Senate. The business community, particularly the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, has been urging senators to conduct the hearing so that it will not be tabled.

According to Mr. Reyes, the forthcoming hearings are intended to gather views and comments from all sectors of the community, including the general public who want to come forward and offer their views on the bill.

“If we are going to run this through, are we going to be doing justice to the people,” he asked. “There are concerns for the general public as there are concerns for the business community. We have to balance this.”

For instance, he said some residents have expressed reservation on the repeal of the three-year stay limit imposed on guest workers. “We want to hear them on this,” added the senator.

Mr. Reyes at the same time sought to clear allegations that he’s holding “hostage” the passage of the bill, saying that all he wants is fairness in reviewing the proposal.

Some island officials, including Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, earlier have expressed concern over some provisions of the bill which could affect reforms implemented by the administration for the last two years and trigger criticisms of backsliding from Washington.

Mr. Fitial, during his visit to the nation’s capital in early April, stressed that some Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress have thrown their support behind the proposal because they said it is a step in the right direction.

HB 12-39, if it becomes law, will repeal regulations deemed restrictive to doing business in the Commonwealth, such as the labor moratorium on the hiring of nonresident workers, the three-year stay limit as well as the imposition of $100,000 as security deposit for new investments.

It will also ease provisions of the garment moratorium law by allowing garment manufacturers to hire workers so long as they do not go beyond the employment ceiling of over 15,000 for the entire industry.

“I am very pro-business,” said Mr. Reyes. “I stand ready to help the business community, but we also have responsibility to the general public who are not in business. We have to hear them also.”

He noted that the Senate in fact early this year has passed a measure repealing the $100,000 cash deposit, but the House has yet to act on it.