Trying to unsour sour milk

It is quite evident that there will no longer be “business as usual” in terms of the way the CNMI government handles fiscal affairs. The saying goes: “A man has to do what a man has to do. With respect to the CNMI, a governor has to do what a governor has to do. Governor Fitial has begun the painful process of “doing more with less” and he is compelled to do what he has to do simply because of what transpired with the previous administration.

Unfortunately, the ramifications of the changes that must be made have clearly had a negative impact on the total amount of funds in everyone’s pockets, especially those who are not making very much money to begin with.

Fitial never told the island community that he inherited a fiscal mess due to the miserable failure on the part of the previous administration to keep the deficit contained and not spend more than the amount of revenues collected. Rather than complain or blame someone else, the new governor began to implement measures to “unsour the sour milk”. To be sure, the task to turn things around fiscally has not been a comfortable task for Fitial knowing that the island community will suffer economically as the process to turn things around takes place.

During Benigno Fitial’s reign as House Speaker for the 14th Legislature, he told the media that 60 percent of the budget was designated as payroll for the nearly 500 people in the employ of the government. Applying that percentage to a $200 million budget, that translates into about $120 million.

During the previous administration, there were approximately 15 autonomous agencies, boards, and commissions, employing nearly 150, which is about 30 percent of the total number of paid employees for the CNMI government. NMC and CUC are the two largest autonomous agencies of the CNMI government. Collectively, NMC and CUC employ about 67 percent of all the people employed by autonomous agencies in the CNMI. With the recent removal of the MPLA as one of the autonomous agencies in the CNMI, there are now 14.

A recent story in the Saipan Tribune discussed a recent decision by the Fitial administration to request the resignations of personnel from the CDA and CPA. If these agencies are dismantled and absorbed and are placed under the auspices of the executive branch, then there will be only 12 autonomous agencies on record.

“Biting the bullet” so to speak is a must in order for the CNMI government to eschew insolvency and regain financial stability. The downside of biting the bullet is that the experience is not a pleasant one, especially if you are used to and enjoy everything being copasetic and hunky dory with respect to financial resources.

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California