House Bill 20-108, the bill that addressees the long-awaited retroactive payment of wages that were frozen at Step 12, is on hold due to technical concerns surrounding the language in the bill.<\/p>\n
Authored by Rep. Angel Demapan (R-Saipan), HB 20-108 is currently on hold after the Office of the Governor sought the opinion of Attorney General Edward Manibusan on the bill.<\/p>\n
According to a statement from the administration, HB 20-108, which it referred to as \u201can important piece of legislation,\u201d is a significant step toward supporting the \u201chard working public servants\u201d of the Commonwealth government.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 We look forward to working with the Legislature and the Attorney General\u2019s Office on addressing these concerns effectively so that these employees receive what they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to interim press secretary Kevin Bautista, a request for a recall of the bill would follow should there be a need.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration remains committed to making sure the lump-sum payments to our remaining frozen civil service employees are met,\u201d reads part of the administration statement.<\/p>\n
HB 20-108, passing both upper and lower chambers in the form of House Draft 1, seeks to allocate $1.4 million as lump-sum payment for the 330 active or inactive government employees who had their wages frozen at Step 12.<\/p>\n
The Senate discussion had focused on whether to pass the bill or not, as the legislation did not specify a source of funding. Sen. Paul Manglo\u00f1a (Ind-Rota) pointed out the problem during discussions in mid-August 2017. <\/p>\n
Despite the opposition, the Senate unanimously passed the bill; many senators leveraged their vote on future bills in exchange for discussions on subsequent House appropriation bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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