The Board of Education has cautioned against allowing retirees to re-enter the workforce without any negative consequence, saying this will create an atmosphere that will motivate government employees to retire early so they can \u201cdouble dip.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a letter from BOE vice chair Janice Tenorio, the board expresses concern that Sen. Justo Quitugua\u2019s (Ind-Saipan) Senate Legislative Initiative 20-01 not only would cost the CNMI government more but also would create a situation that encourages the early retirement of government employees, just to \u201cgo through the rehiring process again.\u201d<\/p>\n
SLI 20-01 seeks to amend the CNMI Constitution to allow retirees to rejoin the workforce as classroom teachers, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals without losing their pension benefits for an unlimited time. <\/p>\n
Right now, \u201cdouble dipping\u201d\u2014getting paid a salary while also receiving a pension\u2014is only allowed for at most two years. After that, retirees that rejoin the government workforce lose their retirement benefits as they are considered employed.<\/p>\n
A retiree refers to someone who has at least 20 years of service with the government.<\/p>\n
SLI 20-01 garnered unanimous support from the Senate in mid-July 2017.<\/p>\n
According to Tenorio\u2019s letter, not only should the Legislature first consider the salary and pay grades retirees are permitted to rejoin the work force, but also look at its indirect effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that allowing retirees to rejoin the workforce without suspending the receipt of their benefits might incentivize everyone working in government to simply retire at their 20-year mark,\u201d said Tenorio, adding that the Public School System would lose teachers only to be hired as retirees.<\/p>\n
Tenorio also pointed out that retirees retired for a reason, and their time once they return to the workforce may be short-lived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would have a high turnover of teachers and administrators rejoining the system, just to retire again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Retirees might be too expensive<\/strong><\/p>\n Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, who also submitted comments on SLI 20-01, suggested something other than a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n \u201cBy that, we mean maybe we should\u2026offer very competitive salaries that attract highly qualified teachers, nurses, doctors, and other professions in the medical field,\u201d said Apatang, adding that should the voters approve SLI 20-01, it would \u201ccost our government almost the same as offering very competitive salaries and benefits to non-pensioners.\u201d<\/p>\n Apatang also pointed out that it makes little sense to amend the constitution to permit the recruitment of retirees to \u201ctake on jobs that we know require advanced training and education.\u201d<\/p>\n Tenorio also brought up the costs associated with allowing retirees to double dip.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the initiative is meant to allow former retirees to enter the workforce at the highest level of the scale, we may create a situation where the central government and autonomous agencies cannot afford to pay them based on their experience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For PSS, retirees would be placed at the \u201cvery top of the pay scale\u201d due to their experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would mean that PSS\u2019 budget for personnel would be spent on a few number of people to fill a small amount of vacancies,\u201d said Tenorio, adding that PSS could hire more teachers for less money.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not to say that we do not want to hire high quality and experienced teachers but, if we are forced to hire former retirees, we may end up filling fewer positions for more money.\u201d<\/p>\n NMC: Fresh grads would compete with retirees<\/strong><\/p>\n Northern Marianas College president Dr. Carmen Fernandez, who also submitted comments on SLI 20-01, pointed out that NMC wants to ensure that \u201c[fresh graduates] are able to join the local labor force without having to compete for job opportunities against retirees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a growing number of programs that are available and that are geared specifically to filling positions in the education and medical fields,\u201d Fernandez wrote in her comments.<\/p>\n Some members of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. believe that allowing retirees to double dip indefinitely \u201cmay not be ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the six that submitted comments on SLI 20-01, only Rota Mayor Ephraim Atalig was in support. According to Atalig, should the retirees re-enter the CNMI workforce, it ensures that \u201cdollars would stay in the CNMI.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe more we hire from the outside, the more money [leaks out] of the CNMI,\u201d he said in his comments, adding that even if the government spends \u201cbillions on education and [the] training of our people,\u201d the CNMI would continue to hire nonresidents.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, at least, passage of the bill would minimize the importation of nonresident workers,\u201d said Atalig.<\/p>\n A violation<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Settlement Fund trustee Joyce Tang, SLI 20-01 does not comport with the Settlement Agreement.<\/p>\n Because the initiative \u201cattempts to change the benefits received by a retiree returning to government service in contravention [of Public Law 6-41, section 15, or the \u2018double dipping\u2019 statute],\u201d the initiative would be in violation of the Settlement Agreement, she said.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026Any legislation modifying the benefits of a class member is ineffective without the consent of the Settlement Fund and the NMI District Court\u2019s approval,\u201d wrote Tang, adding that if SLI 20-01 is passed into law, it would have no effect under the Settlement Agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe parties of the Settlement Agreement must comply with all laws and terms of the Settlement Agreement. For this reason, SLI 20-01 if passed, would violate the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the order approving the agreement,\u201d said Tang.<\/p>\n For SLI 20-01 to take effect, at least three-fourths of both the House of Representatives and the Senate should vote for its passage. Following its passage, voters of the CNMI would then have to vote on it at the next regular election.<\/p>\n As of publication, the House JGO committee voted 3-0 to set SLI 20-01 aside for further discussion. Committee members John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan), Francisco Aguon (R-Saipan), Edwin Aldan (R-Tinian), and Jose Itibus (R-Saipan) were absent at the Nov. 1 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe postpone further deliberations on the bill to seek [the] legal counsel\u2019s advice on the merits of Ms. Joyce Tang\u2019s concerns,\u201d said committee chair Rep. Ivan Blanco (R-Saipan).<\/p>\n MD: Several commented on legislative initiative to allow retirees to double dip indefinitely.<\/p>\n KW: Sen. Justo Quitugua, Settlement Fund, Board of Education, PSS, CHCC, NMC, constitution, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, Rota Mayor Ephraim Atalig.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Board of Education has cautioned against allowing retirees to re-enter the workforce without any…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[26,186,9044,18907],"class_list":["post-264626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","tag-cnmi","tag-initiative","tag-settlement-agreement","tag-sli"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}