‘Lawmakers circumvent the law’

Rep. Tina Sablan has said the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation circumvented the Local Law Act of 1983 when they passed on a 16-2 vote a local bill that reprograms lapsed/unobligated funds of $9,742 which substantially grew to almost $3870,342 after a substitute bill and floor amendments were offered on Thursday instead of introducing a new bill to give ample time for review and comments.

Sablan said substituting bills whole-cloth during sessions defeats the purpose of Public Law 3-077 of the Local Law Act of 1983.

But House Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, in an interview on Saturday, said lawmakers followed the law by passing the local bill that only consolidated various bills that went through the three-session appearance process and the 30-day comment period by the mayors.

The Local Law Act of 1983 requires that each local bill shall lie on the desks of members in the House in which it was introduced for three legislative days.

During the three legislative days, any lawmaker may move that the bill is not a local matter that may be the subject of laws enacted by the members of the respective senatorial district.

“But what has happened at literally every SNILD session this term, and at many sessions of the local delegations in prior years, is that a local bill that goes through the process mandated by law is then substituted whole-cloth with an entirely new bill during the session of the local delegation and passed in that completely new form,” said Sablan.

The original version of the House Local Bill 16-30 appropriated only $9,742 in lapsed unobligated funds, for the installation of window and door shutters at the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council Office.

This office had been burglarized eight times between November 2002 and November 2006.

The amount ballooned to $387,742 which will also benefit other projects and programs as a result of a substitute bill introduced by Rep. Ray N. Yumul and other floor amendments introduced by others members on the day of the session.

Members of the delegation debated the bill for five hours, which started at 9am. After a lunch break, the session resumed at 1:30pm.

During Thursday’s session, Sablan again asked for legal opinion on the apparent circumvention of the law which she and Rep. Diego Benavente also raised during previous SNILD sessions.

Counsel Mike Ernest did not issue a formal opinion but after a quick review of the law said that whole-cloth substitutions of local bills during the session did appear to be a violation of at least the spirit of the Local Law Act.

“Lawmakers, of all people, should not be straining to justify the legality of their actions. We of all people should at least try to err on the side of following the law,” said Sablan.

She added, “And just because a violation has been committed frequently in the past does not make it right. If local delegations could simply substitute local bills that were completely different from the original bill that had followed the three-day rule and been reviewed by the mayor, what, then was the point of the Local Law Act?”

The Local Law Act of 1983 also says that no local bill or local appropriation or revenue bill may be enacted by a legislative delegation until the mayor from the respective senatorial district has had an opportunity to review and comment on it.

The mayor or his designee has 30 days in which to review and comment on all local bills.

“Fortunately for us, the mayor of Saipan was there during the session and was able to review the bill, the substitute bill and the floor amendments,” Palacios, a candidate for lieutenant governor in the November elections, told Saipan Tribune.

He said everybody also had the chance to comment on the bill.

Palacios said Sablan has valid concerns, and to prevent such misunderstanding about the law, he said the delegation should have more sessions.

“I think we need more local delegation sessions so that people won’t try to rush to accomplish everything in one session,” Palacios added.

Palacios said another floor amendment requires the secretary of the Department of Finance to submit a report to the delegation accounting for every single dollar appropriated for the programs or activities.

Three delegation members were not present at the session: Reps. Ed Salas, Heinz Hofschneider, and Ray Palacios.

Rep. Justo Quitugua, co-author of HLB 16-30 along with Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, gave verbal assurance during the session that funds appropriated by the bill are available.

Other members of the delegation believed that substituting bills whole-cloth during sessions may be a violation of the law but they also believed that the appropriations were important to pass on Thursday.

For example, the Junior Statesmen Summer School Program, which is appropriated $25,000 under the local bill and the American Pacific Nursing Leadership Conference, which will receive $10,000, will be held soon.

The final bill passed appropriates money for the following projects and activities:

– $15,000 for the window and door shutters, repairs and renovations for the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council Office

– $9,742 for a bus shelter in Tanapag

-$10,000 for a bus shelter in Puerto Rico

-$5,000 for a bus shelter in Kagman

– $10,000 for a bus shelter in Precinct 1 and repairs to the San Vicente basketball court

– $50,000 for instructional materials, tools, and supplies for the Northern Marianas Trades Institute

– $200,000 for water and power line extensions at Bwooset Place, Talafofo, As Matuis, and Langasat

-$25,000 for the Junior Statesmen Summer School participants from Saipan

-$10,000 for the American Pacific Nursing Leadership Conference from June 15-19, 2009

– $30,000 for Karidat

-$25,000 for the Northern Islands Mayor’s Office for operations

– $5,000 for the San Antonio Manhoben Center

Besides Sablan, the only other Saipan lawmaker who voted against House Local Bill 16-30, SS1 or the local appropriation bill was Sen. Maria “Frica” Pangelinan during the session.

During the session, Pangelinan questioned the lack of reports accounting for the money previously appropriated for the same programs such as the Junior Statesmen Summer School.

Sablan also raised concern about accountability.

“Why were we appropriating $50,000 to the Northern Marianas Trades Institute, for example, a nonprofit organization that has already received over $100,000 from the local delegation and is eligible for educational tax credits, SHEFA scholarships, WIA tuition assistance, and grants?” said Sablan.

Rep. Ramon “Ray” Tebuteb, chairman of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, also questioned the appropriations. He cited, for example, the American Pacific Nursing Leaders Council led by Lee Q. Castro which originally asked the Legislature for a $35,000 budget for their upcoming conference.

“Do they really need $35,000?” asked Tebuteb.

The local bill passed gave the nursing council $10,000 for the conference.

Tebuteb, in an interview, said the nursing council was already able to solicit $15,850 from private donors, and is also expecting other donations.

Castro, when asked by Tebuteb during the session, said the council has not asked the Department of Public Health for funding but only asked to allow its staff to attend the conference.

The nursing council also has leftover fund of $4,500, said Tebuteb.

Sablan, an independent lawmaker, at the same time raised concerns over her colleagues’ failure to consider holding a public hearing before reappointing three board members who did not even show up during the delegation session on Thursday.

By a 15-1 vote, the legislative delegation reconfirmed the appointment of Henry S. Hofschneider to the Commonwealth Zoning Board.

Only Sablan voted no on Hofschneider’s confirmation due to lack of public hearing.

It was also the same reason why Sablan voted no on the confirmation of Josephine T. Sablan and Magdalena Camacho on the board of the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance.

Their confirmation passed also on a 16-1 vote.

The delegation also passed on a 14-2-1 vote Rep. Rosemond Santos’s House Local Bill 16-28 which requires the phase out of adult gambling machines by Jan. 1, 2011, although the Zoning Board may approve extensions to allow for amortization of the business investment.

Fourteen members voted “yes.” Two voted no—Sablan and Rep. Stanley Torres. Sen. Luis Crisostimo abstained.