Three legislative measures will automatically become public laws after the Senate yesterday overturned the governor’s veto on three bills which the House of Representatives also nullified earlier this week.<\/p>\n
In overriding Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s rejection of the proposed measures, both houses of the 12th CNMI Legislature underscored the need to implement Senate Bills 11-464 and 11-148 and House Bill 11-493 which were all introduced and passed during the previous legislative leadership.<\/p>\n
With the executive’s rejection having been invalidated, all three bills automatically become public law even without the signature of Mr. Tenorio.<\/p>\n
Senate President Paul Manglona said the override would require an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the Senate. All three vetoes were overruled unanimously without floor deliberations.<\/p>\n
The Legislature overrode the governor’s veto on Senate Bill 11-464 which seeks to establish funding for Youth and Manamko programs and activities.<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 11-48 requires the private sector and the CNMI government to pay for their non-resident workers’ medical insurance. At present, the only medical insurance subsidized by the state is the Government Health Insurance Program under the Retirement Fund.<\/p>\n
Under existing policies, government employees have the option to enroll under GHIP or other private insurance. If they chose to enroll in a private insurance company, they will have to pay the full premium.<\/p>\n
Mr. Tenorio rejected Senate Bill 11-148 because, he said, it would constitute unfair approach since it requires the government to cover embalming and transportation costs of a deceased nonresident employee, a benefit not provided to local workers.<\/p>\n
Instead, he suggested that a legislation mandating all contracts for non-resident workers employed in the government be enrolled at either GHIP or other private insurance companies.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the Legislature overturned the governor’s veto on House Bill 11-493 despite Mr. Tenorio’s contention that the proposed measure favors a particular business sector, while also providing preferential treatment to one Senatorial District over the others.<\/p>\n
Telecommunications company that will install relay equipment in Rota, under the provisions of House Bill 11-493, will be exempt from paying excise taxes for a six-month period.<\/p>\n
The legislation was expected to stimulate the Commonwealth’s somber economy by encouraging telecommunications company to set up relay equipment in the island of Rota through tax breaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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