For the first time in at least the last few years, the Senate overrode two vetoed bills in just a single session. One of the vetoed bills\u2014which authorizes the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to establish a student driver education program\u2014automatically becomes law because the House overrode it on May 24.<\/p>\n
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial vetoed on May 13 Senate Bill 17-20, Senate Draft 1, House Substitute 1, House Draft 2, Senate Draft 2, saying that BMV \u201cis neither ready nor equipped to establish a driver\u2019s education program at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
But House and Senate members, in overriding the governor\u2019s veto, said families find it hard to come up with $350 to pay for a driver\u2019s education program offered by a private business on Saipan.<\/p>\n
The Senate bill, introduced by floor leader Pete Reyes (R-Saipan), automatically becomes law, but the administration needs to assign a public law number to it.<\/p>\n
SB 17-20, SD1, HS1, HD2, SD2 passed by a vote of 7-0 with one abstention.<\/p>\n
Sen. Luis Crisostimo (Ind-Saipan) said he abstained from voting on the override, saying he doesn\u2019t think BMV has the resources to provide a driver\u2019s education program. Sen. Juan Ayuyu (Ind-Rota) was absent.<\/p>\n
Press secretary Angel Demapan, when asked for comment yesterday, said as Fitial had indicated in his veto message, \u201cBMV lacks the resources it needs to establish a feasible program that will include training instructors, drafting an approved curriculum, acquiring vehicles, insuring them, and factoring in the cost of fuel for the driving instruction portion of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the bill also exposes the government to liability should accidents occur with a student driver. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration had hoped that the legislature would have taken such concerns into consideration instead of going the route of an override. Addressing the governor\u2019s concerns first and maybe introducing a more effective measure\u2014as the Legislature did with the Marshals Service bill\u2014would have probably been the better route to take. Rectifying discrepancies in the measure allows for the passage and enactment of a quality bill, rather than having to come back with numerous amendments down the line,\u201d the press secretary said.<\/p>\n
[B]Settlement negotiation bill[\/B]<\/p>\n
The second vetoed bill was Rep. Ray Palacios\u2019 (Cov-Saipan) House Bill 17-165, House Substitute 1, which authorizes the governor to negotiate a settlement and resolution of judgments entered against the CNMI government.<\/p>\n
The bill has yet to be overridden by the House.<\/p>\n
The Senate initially failed to muster two-thirds vote to override the House bill when it only received five \u201cyes\u201d votes.\u201d It needs at least six votes for a successful override.<\/p>\n
Initially, Senate floor leader Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian), Sen. Henry San Nicolas (Cov-Saipan), and Crisostimo voted \u201cno\u201d on the override.<\/p>\n
Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) called for a short recess, and the senators held a closed-door meeting. When they emerged from the Senate president\u2019s conference room, the senators reconsidered their vote and Hofschneider changed his vote from \u201cno\u201d to \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hofschneider later told Saipan Tribune he misunderstood the bill and the voting. He said he supports the intent of the bill.<\/p>\n
The press secretary, in commenting on the override, said the Fitial administration stands by its decision to veto the measure due to grave concerns on the matter of overstepping the legislature\u2019s appropriations authority. <\/p>\n
He said 1 CMC \u00a77207 already allows for the Legislature to appropriate funds for matters such as the intent of the bill. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll this legislation would do is open doors for claimants to circumvent that law and in effect, take hold of the legislature\u2019s appropriations authority while impacting the General Fund by offsetting and crediting tax obligations,\u201d Demapan said.<\/p>\n
He added that the governor had informed the legislature that the language of the legislation is also of concern, \u201cas it is broad and sets no definite boundaries for settlement negotiations, which may result in more harm to the general fund and other government agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, we hope that the members of the House will heed the concerns of the administration and not vote in favor of an override,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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