Fitial nixes clipping governor’s emergency powers

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has vetoed a bill clipping the governor’s powers to declare a state of disaster emergency, saying the Legislature does not have the constitutional authority to do so.

“Although…the NMI Constitution authorized the Legislature to enact legislation to add other emergencies, it does not authorize the Legislature to take away, restrict, or redefine emergencies contrary to the NMI Constitution,” Fitial said in his veto message.

Under the bill, the governor will not be able to use his constitutional powers to declare an emergency to deal with “financial crisis or hardship.” Proponents of the bill say such declarations should only be allowed in extreme cases such as an invasion, civil disturbance, natural disaster, or calamity. They argue that existing laws provide enough means for the governor to deal with a financial crisis without the governor having to use emergency powers.

But Fitial says that, even if lawmakers had the power to restrict emergencies, the governor’s authority to declare an emergency for financial crisis-related events “should not be restricted when such restriction may affect the health and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth.”

He cites the case of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., which remains under a state of emergency. “[I]f the governor cannot declare a state of emergency to avert an eventual loss of public utilities, the people of the Commonwealth will undoubtedly suffer without power and water. The governor should not approach an eventual disaster with a ‘wait and see’ stance, as the end result will be much more disastrous and costly to the people of the Commonwealth,” he said.

He added, “I urge the Legislature to work together with the administration in finding solutions to the many crises that the Commonwealth is facing, instead of restricting the governor’s power to avert or fix the disasters that are before us today.”

Rep. Joseph James Camacho introduced the bill in May 2008 in the wake of the governor’s emergency declaration for the Commonwealth Ports Authority, which was facing technical default on its airport revenue bonds due to financial problems.

Since Fitial assumed office in January 2006, he has issued declarations or extensions of more than a dozen disaster emergencies for government agencies.