Senate overrides veto on two bills
Sen. Pete Reyes mustered enough support from his fellow legislators and secured majority votes to override a veto made by Gov. Juan N. Babauta on his two bills—the Marianas Visitors Authority and DNA measures.
The Senate on its Wednesday session on Rota overrode Babauta’s veto on Senate Bill 14-11, a measure that makes DNA testing an option in child support cases; and Senate Bill 14-13, which restricts Marianas Visitors Authority from hiring nonresidents.
The DNA bill received eight affirmative votes while Sen. Paul Manglona abstained. On the MVA bill, seven senators voted yes and two abstained—Manglona and Senate President Joaquin Adriano. The two measures essentially became a law after the override.
Last week, Reyes vowed that he would secure votes at the Senate to ensure that an override would be carried out on all his bills that were vetoed by Babauta one after the other.
Reyes slammed the Babauta administration for what he described as “a personal and irrational” way to get back at him—a three-time veto on all his sponsored bills.
He accused the administration of being vindictive, which he claimed was affecting legitimate measures that could have benefited the CNMI people.
He said that what he found disturbing about all the vetoes was that the administration “did not even take time to make the disapproval convincing enough to justify it.”
The administration disapproved all of Reyes’ bills because the DNA testing bill reportedly failed to mention funding sources for the test while the MVA would need nonresident workers when the CNMI expands its tourism marketing efforts in China. (Edith G. Alejandro)
