New law puts DDC under Governor's Office

The CNMI Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council is now under the supervision of the Office of the Governor, six years after Executive Order 94-3 issued by former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio reorganized the agency.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio signed Public Law 12-10 last Friday to return the responsibility of administering developmental disabilities programs to his office as sought by the council’s officials.

“I understand that the Federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act [DD Act] requires that the Designated State Agency [DSA] is not a service-providing agency for individuals with developmental disabilities,” he said.

The council now joins other government agencies, such as the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Coastal Resources Management, in the return to their original jurisdictions prior to implementation of the executive order in 1994.

The former governor signed that order to reorganize the government by removing some of the agencies under the supervision of larger departments like the governor’s office and the Department of Commerce which was supervising the defunct MVB until its revamp in 1998.