Senate will be deliberating today a bill that would guarantee 25% of retirees\u2019 pension through the allotment of $15 million from the casino license fees.<\/p>\n
House Bill 21-76, HS1, which unanimously passed in a House of Representatives session last Thursday, would repeal Public Law 20-10 that designates the casino gross revenue tax collections as the source of money for the retirees\u2019 pension. \u201cCurrently, under [P.L.] 20-10, the license fee is being distributed to the senatorial districts, and the retirees\u2019 portion has been, under [P.L.] 20-10, moved to the [Casino Gross Revenue Tax]. Unfortunately, [with] no collections of CGRT, retirees are not getting their full pension,\u201d House Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao (R-Saipan) said during the session. \u201c[Under the new bill] the $15 million in the license fee shall be dedicated strictly for the 25% of the retirees. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation will dedicate all $15 million of the license fee that is due every end of August early September, and will carry the 25% for the full fiscal year for the retirees,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Attao lamented that the retirees were not able to get their full pension last week, on April 15, with pension checks short by 25%. Gov. Ralph DLG Torres earlier announced that the government would be unable to pay 25% of pension payments, due to the injunction pushed by members of the Board of Education. <\/p>\n
At the House session, Attao stated that the bill is not new, that it was introduced as H.B. 19-21 and H.B. 20-28, in the 19th and 20th Commonwealth Legislatures, respectively, and that both never made it to the governor\u2019s desk for action.<\/p>\n
In an earlier interview, the House speaker said that \u201cunfortunately, we got to this point, when we could have prevented this from happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey [the retirees] have to be paid the 25% no matter what because the Constitution is very clear that the retiree must receive their pension in whole. Although the Settlement Fund is only giving them the 75%. The 25% is the obligation of the central government to make sure that the retirees get their full pension,\u201d Attao added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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