The House of Representatives passed a supplemental appropriation last Friday to divvy up $24 million collected from the Saipan Casino Operator\u2019s Business Gross Revenue Tax. <\/p>\n
The House passed the budget bill with a unanimous vote of 17-0. <\/p>\n
Reps. Vinson Sablan (Ind-Saipan) and Joseph \u201cLeepan\u201d Guerrero (R-Saipan), along with House Speaker Rafael Demapan (R-Saipan), were absent from the session. <\/p>\n
A total of $16.5 million from the Casino Generated Gross Revenue Tax, or CGRT, was available for appropriation. An additional $5.9 million, along with an additional $1.5 million, were added from leftover balances of previous appropriations.<\/p>\n
Over $11.8 million in supplemental funding goes to the Public School System for school repairs; federal matching funds; purchase of instructional materials; employer share increases for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 for health and life insurance; utilities; purchase of school buses and vans; and the purchase of parts and fuel for the buses. <\/p>\n
The bill earmarked $150,000 to committees under the Board of Education, while the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. gets $2.75 million for indigent care compensation and funding for electronic healthcare records system.<\/p>\n
Some $3 million goes to land compensation, while $1 million and $500,000 goes to the Manglo\u00f1a v CNMI and the Tano Group v Department of Public Lands cases, respectively.<\/p>\n
The bill also set aside $1 million and $275,000 to the Northern Marianas College and the Northern Marianas Trades Institute, respectively, while $500,000 and $300,000 is allocated to the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Child Care Development Fund and the Substance Abuse Recovery and Prevention, respectively.<\/p>\n
Some $850,000 is allocated for land compensation judgments on Rota, while $850,000 is allocated for the West San Jose Homestead Water Project on Tinian.<\/p>\n
The new Planning and Development Office is allocated $500,000, $175,000 for the Office of Management and Budget, and $126,056.35 is allocated to the Governor\u2019s Office to provide the CNMI with the \u201cgreatest level of advocacy in Washington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n
The remaining $50,000 is allocated for those who have not been paid the outstanding retroactive lump-sum payments for active and inactive employees who got stuck in Step 12 during the financial austerity measures in the early 2000\u2019s, as provided by Public Law 19-75. <\/p>\n
The bill\u2019s author, Rep. Angel A. Demapan (R-Saipan), said he looks forward to introducing more funding measures for other agencies that have \u201cunmet needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026We are looking forward to the next round of supplemental revenues wherein we will address other unmet needs in areas such as public safety, fire, customs, and the settlement fund. I have had discussions with Gov. [Ralph DLG] Torres and the Secretary of Finance with regards to some of these pending financial needs,\u201d he told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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