The House Ways and Means Committee has started reviewing the fiscal year 2019 budget.<\/p>\n
The committee\u2019s review of the budget proposal offered by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is some six months well before the deadline of a final product on Oct. 1, 2018, according to the committee\u2019s chairman, Rep. Angel A. Demapan (R-Saipan). <\/p>\n
Noting a $21.4-million increase in the proposed budget compared to fiscal year 2018, Torres\u2019 $258.1-million budget \u201creflects how much we have progressed over the past couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter decades of mounting government debt, we have since paid over $116 million for outstanding obligations in land compensation, judgments, retiree benefits, [and appropriations to the] Public School System and Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.,\u201d Demapan told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next step will be to conduct a resources hearing with the governor\u2019s special assistant for Management and Budget and the secretary of Finance,\u201d added Demapan.<\/p>\n
He would then \u201cintroduce a concurrent resolution to concur with the governor\u2019s projected revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Once the House adopts that, we will begin scheduling public hearings for the agencies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Demapan did not specify which agencies would be prioritized for the budget hearings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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