FLACHBACK May 14, 1999-2002

Fair wage act pushed back[/B]

The implementation of the Resident Workers Fair Compensation Act may be delayed further after the Attorney General’s Office pushed back the adoption of the rules and regulations that would put into motion Public Law 11.-74. “The regulations currently promulgated will not be adopted without significant modifications, therefore, these will be repromulgated,” said Nancy Gottfried, assistant attorney general. According to Gottfried, the comment period, which ends on May 19, 1999, will be extended for two more weeks. She asked the public to submit all recommended changes to the rules and regulations to the Attorney General’s Office or the Department of Labor and Immigration.

The Board of Education will lend support to a legislative initiative that would seek to amend the CNMI Constitution to make the free education available even to five-year-old children in order to ensure the continuity of the Kindergarten program. In yesterday’s meeting, board members gave their nod to a proposal supporting a legislation that is being prepared by Rep. Malua Peters to amend the Constitution. The existing mandate covers only children from 6 to 16 years old, which places the Kindergarten program in jeopardy during times of budgetary constraints. Board member Thomas Pangelinan’s committee on curriculum and instruction earlier adopted the vote to support the age amendment for free education.

Better child care at CHC[/B]

Problems associated with the persistent increase in the number of critically-ill children in the Northern Marianas will decline once the Department of Public Health sets up its own state-of-the-art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The proposed setting up of PICU earned the support of health officials amid problems on the increasing number of pediatric patients who were forced to be sent off-island despite their inability to travel. With PICU, health officials are optimistic that off-island referrals for critically-ill children will be reduced. It is also anticipated to help reduce complaints of neglect involving infant-patients.

The government has enough funds to be disbursed when the initial batch of tax rebates and refunds are mailed out, Finance Secretary Lucy Dlg. Nielsen disclosed Friday Ms. Nielsen is confident that rebates will be released in the next several weeks as the Revenue and Taxation Division completes its review of income tax returns filed by taxpayers. In an interview with reporters, the secretary said DOF is now wrapping up the initial process towards the issuance of tax rebates and all checks will be issued on a regular basis.

Cing resigns from Senate leadership[/B]

Enraged over what he perceived as an insult to him and his committee, Senate Vice President David M. Cing expressed his intention yesterday to resign from the upper chamber’s leadership, saying, “Can I trust my leadership [again] after what happened?” This comes soon after Senate Floor Leader Joaquin G. Adriano made a motion to recall and reconsider an earlier vote they made rejecting the nomination of former senator Edward U. Maratita to the board of directors of the Commonwealth Development Authority. The motion, which Adriano made during the resumption of yesterday’s session, was defeated during a voice vote, with six voting “No” and only three voting “Yes.” Those who voted to recall Maratita’s earlier rejection were Sens. Adriano, Ricardo S. Atalig, and Diego Songao.

In an unprecedented move, the Senate twice rejected yesterday the nomination of former senator Edward U. Maratita to sit on the board of directors of the Commonwealth Development Authority. The rejections stem primarily from an existing loan that Maratita had taken out from the CDA. Due to confidentiality requirements, the loan amount was not made public during the session. Senate Vice President David M. Cing, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations, recommended rejecting Maratita’s nomination.