Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero, left, speaks as Sen. Dennis Mendiola reviews his notes during a session on Monday.
THE bicameral conference committee created in December to draft a version of House Bill 23-9 that is acceptable to both the Senate and the House of Representatives has yet to convene.
Authored by Rep. Denita Yangetmai, H.B. 23-9 would require the Legislature to appropriate all non-locally sourced funds allocated to the CNMI government, except the federal funds received by the Public School System, the Office of the Public Auditor, Northern Marianas College, the Northern Marianas Housing Corp., other autonomous entities and public corporations.
The House passed the bill on June 20, 2023 while the Senate approved its own version on Nov. 13, 2023. The Senate included a provision to apply the bill retroactively to all non-locally sourced funds that the CNMI government received on or before Sept. 1, 2023.
On Dec. 14, 2023, the House rejected the Senate version.
On Dec. 15, 2023, Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez appointed the House conferees led by Rep. Ralph N. Yumul while Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero named Senate Floor Leader Corina Magofna as the chair of the Senate conferees.
In a letter to Villagomez on Monday, Deleon Guerrero noted that more than two months have passed since the conferees were appointed, but “the Senate conferees are still waiting for the House conferees to agree to a meeting date.”
“As you know, the FY 2025 CNMI budget is coming up and H.B. 23-9…is an important [piece of] financial legislation that must be addressed right away,” Deleon Guerrero said.
In an interview, Yumul said the bill is not their priority. He said the Special Committee on Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding, which he chairs, is still conducting an investigation into the previous administration’s $17 million Building Optimism, Opportunities and Stability Together program.
Yumul said the special committee wants to complete its work in March. Afterward, he said they intend to address the important bills that are with the House Ways and Means Committee, which he also chairs.
He noted that there are also “pressing pieces of legislation” that the House has already passed but remain pending in the Senate. These include several tax-hike measures.
