A deliberate injury: Part 2

In my letter last week titled “A deliberate injury,” I disclosed that the major culprit that broke the NMI Retirement Fund’s backbone was H.B. 15-137 that became Public Law 15-15, sending the Fund to ICU. However, there are other contributing factors that suffocated the Fund first before Public Law 15-15 severely broke the Fund’s backbone. I also mentioned that there are incumbent legislators who were in the 15th Legislature who will again be seeking re-election this November’s general election. The only incumbents who voted against H.B. 15-137 in the 15th Legislature were Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero and Sen. Paul A. Manglona as per the voting record of the 15th Legislature.

The other contributing factors that suffocated the Fund were Executive Order 2012-06, to seal the administration from remitting its employer’s contribution to the Fund; H.B. 8-300 (Public Law 8-30), to establish the 30 percent early retirement bonus; and H.B. 6-29 (Public Law 6-17), to consider college degrees and military service as “vesting service” for purpose of determining eligibility to retire. These bills and other actions of the Legislature created unfunded liabilities for the Fund and the Legislature failed terribly to appropriate adequate funding to pay off these liabilities.

My fellow retirees, the latest unfunded liability is the 25-percent reduction in our pension. Majority of the members to the 18th Legislature wants us to believe that we will get paid 100 percent of our pension before election. Eulogio Inos wants us to believe that it is only a deferment. It is not! For every 15 days that we don’t receive this 25 percent, we lose this amount forever. Thank you, Eulogio Inos, for your politricks and for creating your Frankenstein monster with Betty Johnson. Thank you, members of the 18th Legislature, for not protecting our rights under NMI Constitution Article 3 Section 20. We will remember all of you who participated in injuring the Fund whenever we are late in paying our car loan, when we struggle paying our CUC bills, when our cars run out of gas on the road, when we struggle to make co-payments on our prescription medicines, when we struggle to pay our doctor’s deductibles, when we no longer able to pay our mortgage loan, and when we struggle to enjoy our life in general. Most especially, we will remember Oscar M. Babauta, Ray N. Yumul, Arnold I. Palacios, Jude U. Hofschneider, and Francisco S. Dela Cruz for voting yes on H.B. 15-137. For this upcoming November 2014 general election we will make sure that all of you remember our sufferings.

Jesus I. Taisague
Koblerville, Saipan