One-time borrowing to pay all govt debts

The proposal for a “one-time” Constitutional amendment to allow for public debt to pay off the government deficit—what we owe vendors, the Retirement Fund, tax rebates, and so forth—should, as the Public Auditor proposes, be a one-time deal. Obviously, as he further suggests, this constitutional amendment initiative will need to include reform provisions to guard against future abuses.

But, before it gets to that, I would like to suggest that the amount of the one-time debt include all other public debts in the calculation of what we need to borrow. If we were to do this, it will result in our only having one debt to service since we would have paid off all our outstanding public debts through this one-time borrowing. This may, or may not, be possible so I will leave it to those who know to decide.

Mr. Sablan suggests including a provision that sets “a constitutional budget deadline” where “the governor’s spending plan becomes law if no budget is passed by a certain date.” Instead, I suggest that we set a constitutional budget deadline where the government shuts down if a budget is not enacted into law by a certain date. This will mean no hospital services at CHC, no payments for retirement pensions, no schools will open, and no government employee, including all those holding constitutional offices, will receive any pay until a budget is passed and signed into law. This may look harsh, but our government’s history with its budgets requires stringent and unbending rules.

The multi-year budgeting concept works where there are part-time Legislatures and, if we decide to go this route, then we should also consider a part-time Legislature. I say that we stick to an annual budget and a full-time Legislature.

I agree that a deficit reserve fund account, but with the provision that will prohibit legislators to change the rules by law, as was done with the rebate trust fund, is necessary. An independent commission to project revenues will be political from the day that its members are appointed but it may be better than what we now have.

The gatekeepers’ concept is great but there must be a provision that gatekeepers can be removed from office if they abuse their positions.

I wholeheartedly support Mr. Sablan’s concept for a “one-time” borrowing to pay off the operations deficit. I wish he had also suggested that we borrow all the monies necessary to pay off, once and for all, the existing deficit, and to consolidate, if this is possible, all outstanding Commonwealth government debt.

I also hope the Legislature will act on the Public Auditor’s suggestion at the earliest possible date, more so such that the initiative could get on the ballot as early as the 2007 general election and we could implement the borrowing as early as fiscal year 2008. I also compliment the Public Auditor for his excellent proposal and for his taking the initiative on this very important public issue.

The government deficit is one major reason that our economy is in such a shambles. Until we fix the problem, we continue to impede a rebound in the Commonwealth’s economic conditions.

In my position, it is necessary that I remain impartial and refrain from endorsing or opposing this measure if it gets on the ballot. As a matter of law, I will have to spearhead the public education of the initiative.

As a citizen, this is also my final word on this very important public issue.