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House junks ‘rumor’-fed resolution
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Posted on May 23 2008
The House of Representatives has junked a resolution asking the Department of Finance not to garnish tax rebates that are part of the President’s economic stimulus package.
The House members voted 7-7 to reject the resolution introduced by Representatives Ray N. Yumul and David Apatang.
Proponents of the resolution said the document was “a preventive measure” intended to discourage the Finance Department from withholding rebates for those who owe taxes to the government.
“It’s happened in the past,” said Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, who backed the resolution. “You never know [if it will happen again]. The authors’ intent is simply to ensure that the stimulus money gets to the taxpayers.”
But House Minority Leader Oscar M. Babauta said the resolution was based on hearsay. The Finance Department has not indicated any plan to garnish the tax rebates, which are expected to be released next week.
Rep. Tina Sablan agreed, saying, “I worry that this resolution is rumor mongering on our part. I haven’t seen any report that there will be garnishment of the rebate checks. And as an official expression of the House, a resolution must be based on accurate information.”
For his part, Rep. Stanley T. Torres noted that it was not clear whether the Finance secretary has authority to garnish the federal tax rebates. He added that there may be some rebate recipients who actually owe the government. “I’d rather leave the decision to secretary of Finance,” he said.
Press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. has said the Finance Department has no intention to withhold any amount of the tax rebates. “That is an issue in Guam, but not here. I’m not sure we have the authority to do that even if we wanted to,” he said.
Under the Economic Stimulus Act, U.S. taxpayers would get checks of several hundred dollars from the federal government to stimulate the economy. The CNMI government received approximately $16 million pursuant to the law. The Finance Department is preparing to disburse the money to taxpayers in the Commonwealth.
