Austerity bill hurdles bitter House debate

The House of Representatives passed yesterday a set of so-called “interim fiscal measures” proposed by the administration.

The bill reinstates the austerity Friday program and suspends holiday pay for the three holidays remaining in this fiscal year. It also reduces the government’s retirement contribution rate to 11 percent, much lower than the actuary-recommended rate of 36.77 percent of the total payroll.

Furthermore, the bill reprograms nearly $6 million from various revenue sources outside the General Fund.

The measures, floated amid dwindling revenue collections, are expected to raise approximately $17 million for government operations.

The bill passed with a 15-4 vote in the Lower House. Representatives David Apatang, Heinz Hofschneider, Tina Sablan, and Ralph Torres voted no. Rep. Rosemond Santos was absent.

Sablan opposed the bill after failing to gain support for her proposal to have elected officials terminate government-paid mobile phones and vehicle leases.

Rep. Diego T. Benavente, one of the lawmakers who voted down the proposed amendment, said that Sablan’s suggestion might cause controversy and delay passage of the bill in the Senate.

“This kind of amendment has no room in this legislation,” Rep. Joseph Deleon Guerrero echoed Benavente’s sentiment.

Sablan also had wanted to make other amendments to the bill, but did not get a chance to offer them on the floor. The amendments included slashing the salaries of justices and judges and elected officials, downsizing the government, mandating a 10-percent reduction in the government’s power usage, banning locally funded travel, replacing austerity Fridays with a daily one-hour cut on government work hours, and slashing the discretionary fund of legislators, the governor and lt. governor by 50 percent.

“Let no one say that all I did was object. I offered suggestions, but nobody was listening,” she said.

For his part, Hofschneider raised concerns about “ambiguities” in the bill. He said the Legislature should set more specific guidelines for spending the bill’s $17-million impact on government resources.

“Whether the money should be used for the retirement program or the utility—the Legislature has the responsibility to state a specific purpose. We cannot just hand over a blank check to the Executive Branch,” he said.

He added that most of the Sablan’s proposed amendments had merit, as they would restrict government expenditures and apply more fairness to the austerity measures.

“You’re taking away from the employees, and you’re driving around in government vehicles. Where is the fairness in that?” asked Hofschneider.

The bill now heads to the Senate for action.