Flores says House, Senate relationship at a stalemate

Rep. Marissa Renee Flores (Ind-Saipan) said on Friday that at this point her view is that the House of Representatives has reached a stalemate in regard to their relationship with members of the Senate.

Flores said during the House’s special session that while she commends Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero’s (D-Saipan) power to reorganize the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government and Law, it’s fair to say that in total there are 43 bills that have yet to pass that committee.

She said while the Senate members have accepted their membership into the newly reorganized JGL committee, she would hope that they take the pending bills into consideration.

“Many of the bills have been proposed and passed in this House since last year. And it would be interesting to see how quickly they will,” Flores said.

Last Wednesday, Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors (R-Tinian), the newly appointed chairman of the JGL Committee, notified president DeLeon Guerrero that he already appointed members to serve on the committee.

King-Nabors said with the full committee members on hand, they are ready and committed to fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as outlined in the Senate interim rules.

Citing numerous bills and not holding a committee meeting for eight months, DeLeon Guerrero last Tuesday removed Sen. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan) as chairwoman of the JGL Committee and replaced her with Sen. King-Nabors.

Flores said there are two Senate legislative initiatives that have yet to pass, 20 bills that were introduced in the Senate and 21 bills introduced in the House.

“And I hope the governor is watching. Because as a leader, he does have some authority to exercise his executive power. And when you think about that, you think about the community as a whole. And the people are suffering,” she said.

Flores said she is hoping that they can at least come to some kind of a middle ground with the new JGL Committee and start moving and passing these bills that have been sitting there as a stalemate since last year.

Flores said the CNMI is still at a negative of $4.1 million as Department of Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita has expressed in her communication.

“But I will also be remiss to say that during the past administration, there were funds obligated to pay vendors. And as I’ve come to know and find out that many of these vendors have yet to be paid,” she said.

Flores said once funds are obligated, that means pay it, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“So now we are left once again to find out what happened to all this money that was supposed to be used to pay vendors because only a few got paid. Now, I don’t know about you, but that is not fair,” she said.

Flores said she believes that every vendor who is owed money in the millions of dollars should really consider their relationship with the government.

“Because we tell our people to stand up for what is right and what is just. Exercise their authority and use the systems in place to address their problems,” she said.

Flores said there are still monies in taxes that have yet to be paid from individuals in the millions.

“Pay your bills. If it’s obligated, pay it. And I don’t think this administration or anybody in the government should be selective as to who to pay,” she said.