Piecemeal legislation for business reforms

The Omnibus Labor and Business Reform bill will be broken down into several pieces of legislation in the Senate for swift action by the nine-member chamber, according to its Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes.

After today’s scheduled public hearing on Tinian — the last town meeting that began last Thursday on Saipan — members of the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic, Development and Program will immediately sit down and deliberate on the House measure, he said.

Offered by Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, the Omnibus bill or HB 12-39 was passed by the lower house in March and has since been awaiting Senate action.

Business groups, such as the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the hotel association and the garment manufacturers, have pressed passage of the measure in an effort to help boost the island’s flagging economy.

The legislation, one of the key priorities of Mr. Fitial’s leadership, aims to repeal laws deemed too restrictive to doing business in the CNMI, including the hiring moratorium, the three-year stay limit and the garment attrition scheme.

But Mr. Reyes underscored the need to further review the proposal in light of its impact on labor and immigration reforms implemented by the Tenorio administration and the previous Legislature over the past two years.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, he said, is likely to veto the bill if it gets to him for signing without the necessary amendments. “The way the bill is written now, the governor will veto it,” Mr. Reyes told reporters in an interview Saturday at the GOP gathering at the Royal Taga Beach Club.

The only way to make it work is to have “piecemeal” legislation in which it will “greater chance of passing” in the Senate, added the REDP chairman. “As for the committee’s recommendation, we have not yet met to deliberate on the provisions of the bill,” he said.

The panel held a public hearing last Friday on Rota attended by Mayor Benjamin Manglona and resident directors on the island who asked for several amendments to the bill.

According to Mr. Reyes, the mayor had strongly opposed the repeal of the fair compensation law for resident workers as well as the mandatory exit for guest workers after three years of consecutive stay in the Commonwealth.

Rota officials also rejected the proposal to open up commercial farming and fishing to foreign investors as stipulated under HB 12-39 since they want business establishments to buy their fresh food supply only from the local producers, the senator said.

“It is now becoming clear to us that there is recognition [in the community] to come up with piecemeal legislation,” said Mr. Reyes.
The public hearing on Tinian is set today at 9:30 a.m. at the court house.