Business groups seek retention of lobby funds

Local business groups are appealing to the Senate not to take away funding for a lobbying campaign by the CNMI government in Washington D.C., saying the threat of a federal takeover is still a major concern.

The Western Pacific Economic Council (WPEC), which groups five of the influential business organizations on the islands, also backs retention of Preston Gates as lobbyists to safeguard local interests in the United States.

A letter addressed to Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes from WEPC executive director Richard A. Pierce pleaded its case as lawmakers head into talks to hammer out an agreement on the much-delayed FY 2001 spending measure.

The note was also signed by HANMI President Ronald D. Sablan, Contractors Association Chairman Richard Szumeil, Bankers Association President Robert Gardner, Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Lynn A. Knight and Mr. Pierce as SGMA Executive Director.

Senators late last month took $700,000 out of the fiscal budget that had been earmarked earlier by the House for the lobbying campaign to shift to other programs of the government.

They have maintained the money would be better spent in the implementation of the free trade zones to help boost the local economy.

The move is expected to be one of the issues to be negotiated during a bicameral conference on the budget between representatives of both houses this week.

“It has never been more important for us to continue to protect our islands’ sovereignty and the valuable Covenant privileges that have enabled our economy to develop,” said WEPC in the letter.

Regardless of the final outcome of the U.S. presidential election, the council said the Commonwealth urgently needs the continued protection of its interests in the U.S. capital.

“The lobbying by anti-CNMI parties has never stopped, and because the Republicans have maintained a slim margin is no reason to sit back and take our chances that they will not be successful at reintroducing anti-CNMI legislation again in the coming year,” the group warned.

According to WEPC, they retained Preston Gates from January 1999 until August when the government agreed to hire its services again to work on behalf of the Commonwealth.

“The lobbyists at Preston Gates have been very effective in protecting the integral economic variables of the Covenant,” it explained. “We strongly feel it is vital that the CNMI government continue to be the primary client for such lobbying efforts.”

The lobbying firm, which had provided public relations and lobbying for the islands in the past, was chosen by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio for their expertise and long-time experience with CNMI concerns.

This came amid mounting concerns on legislation that has drawn bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress which will seek to end the quota-free, duty-free privileges to the mainland market granted the islands under Headnote 3(a).

The Covenant, which established the political relations between the Northern Marianas and the United States and gave local control over immigration and minimum wage, has come under close scrutiny in Washington D.C. in recent years.

President Clinton and the Democrats in Congress are pushing for federal takeover of these functions due to alleged failure by the CNMI to curb the number of foreign workers and stem labor abuses here.

Island leaders are pinning hopes that Texas Gov. George W. Bush will eventually prevail in the still-undecided race for the White House as Republicans have been more sympathetic to the local conditions.