Referendum issue divides House

Should any issue affecting the people of the Commonwealth be put to a popular vote in a referendum?

This was the question raised by the House of Representatives during discussion yesterday on legislation amending the election code to allow holding of referendum.

HB 12-259, authored by Rep. Dino M. Jones, seeks establishment of such mechanism by the Board of Elections, on condition that a petition is signed by at least 500 voters in the CNMI for general issues, or 10 percent of the electorate in each of the island district on local matters.

According to the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, at present there is no way for the people to uniformly make their opinion known on such public issues.

“[H]aving referenda on such issues would allow for both those who live here and the rest of the world to see how the Commonwealth really feels on important issues of the day,” said a report prepared by the committee which is being chaired by Mr. Jones.

The panel endorsed the proposal to the House for passage but some members expressed opposition, prompting the chamber to defer voting until changes are made.

In defending the measure, Mr. Jones said it was driven by an absence of avenue through which the public pulse can be heard in critical issues like the 200-mile economic zone, federal takeover and Covenant provisions.

“The referendum is one possibility that would make people to come out with their stand on issues,” he told the session.

But Rep. Diego T. Benavente maintained such proposal is not necessary since the Legislature represents the electorate, adding it could be costly for the government.

Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider echoed his argument, emphasizing the required 500 votes is too low that the referendum could be abused by anybody who just needs to produce a petition.

He also said the government, particularly the Legislature, would then have to take steps if the issue at stake, such as rollback on fuel tax raise or on abortion, demands concrete actions.

Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, however, suggested that parameters of the issues should be defined to limit the scope of the referendum, citing the Covenant provisions where the CNMI does not have the power to legislature or it has no purview.

Meanwhile, the House also passed on first reading HB 12-147 that will amend regulations of the Sick Leave Bank for government personnel.

The measure, offered by Rep. Malua T. Peter, aims to provide additional hours of up to 320 hours of sick leave with pay to those stricken with serious illnesses.

Other bills passed were SB 12-80 amending the recently signed domestic violence law and the easing of condition on return of retirees to government service. Both are now up for signing into law by the governor.