The House has unanimously passed legislation that would create a new funding source for the CNMI Museum.<\/p>\n
The House passed vice speaker Rep. Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero\u2019s (R-Saipan) House Bill 21-52 during their session on Capitol Hill last Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The bill was passed without changes. It allocates 20% of beverage container taxes to the CNMI Museum as a regular annual funding source.<\/p>\n
Twenty percent of the beverage container tax is estimated at $186,027 in fiscal year 2020, which is intended to make up for the massive drop in the CNMI Museum\u2019s budget for fiscal year 2020.<\/p>\n
The museum was appropriated $462,984 in fiscal year 2019. It will only get $214,207 in fiscal year 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe museum continues to suffer from insufficient funds to make improvements and maintain its operations,\u201d the legislation states.<\/p>\n
CNMI Museum director Danny Aquino, who has expressed support for the legislation, said, \u201cOne of the biggest problems\u2026in the museum is funding [but] it\u2019s not [just] about the funding. It\u2019s about what we want to do with the investment given to the museum.\u201d <\/p>\n
He noted that the museum has been able to procure extremely valuable artifacts but then no money was left to afford security.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have invested over $1 million in our collections, and yet if we look at the kind investments we give to the museum and the kind of [artifact] that go there, I think we can do better,\u201d he said, adding that he is appreciative of the support the museum has gotten from the Legislature in the past two years. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill helps us with other costs. There are signs of spalling in the museum again,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Spalling occurs when the rebar situated inside concrete structures for added rigidity and reinforcement expands due to corrosion, causing cracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something that cannot be helped because the building is 92 years old. It was never meant to be a [permanent] museum; it was only meant to be a temporary museum,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The legislation now heads to the Senate for review and action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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