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PBDC gets $250K from feds
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Posted on Mar 20 2005
The Pacific Basin Development Council has received $250,000 “mission” grant from the Department of the Interior.
In a March 11 letter to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, who is the president of PBDC, DOI acting deputy assistant Secretary Nikolao Pula said that the department could not give financial assistance for the regional body’s endowment fund as it is prohibited under federal regulations.
“However, we are pleased to provide $250,000 to support PBDC’s mission,” said Pula.
He said it is allowed under Public Law 108-188, which provides that “sufficient funds shall be made available for a grant to the PBDC.”
Pula said that Babauta had requested DOI for financial support for PBDC’s endowment fund, but he said it cannot be done so because the Office of Management and Budget has strict federal guidelines that will not allow monies to be used for an endowment fund.
Honolulu-based PBDC was established by the governors of American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii and CNMI in 1980 to address regional economic and social concerns.
Babauta assumed the PBDC presidency in 2002.
Recently, Hawaii rejoined the group after about seven years of absence.
Founding members of the PBDC paid $63,000 each in membership dues it had decreased over the years to $42,000, and then down to $34,000.
Due to the economic slump, it has been further reduced to $20,000.
With Hawaii’s re-entry, the membership fees would be sufficient to keep the office of PBDC operating, said Babauta.
Right now, PBDC is grooming Alaska to join the group.
Babauta said that Alaska’s presence in PBDC would make for a formidable organization that would address regional issues.
“We have a lot of commonalities and issues that we can work together on,” Babauta earlier said.
