Proposed Budget Cuts To CNMI Executive Rejected SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety/PIR, July 11, 2013) — The proposal to cut the budget of the governor and the lt. governor by $250,000 each was rejected yesterday (July 10, 2013) by the majority of the members of House Ways and Means Committee. Most members of the committee also rejected the idea of eliminating the 35 additional full-time equivalents (FTE)—or employees—for Corrections. Chaired by Rep. Tony Sablan, IR-Saipan, the committee finalized the numbers in the fiscal year 2014 budget yesterday (July 10, 2013) and is expected to come up with the budget bill by next week. The committee members who attended yesterday’s meeting were Reps. Ramon A. Tebuteb, IR-Saipan; Roman C. Benavente, IR-Saipan; Tony R. Agulto, IR-Saipan; Anthony T. Benavente, IR-Saipan; Christopher D. Leon Guerrero, Covenant-Saipan; Trenton B. Conner, IR-Tinian; and Ralph N. Yumul, IR-Saipan. Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, IR-Saipan, also attended the meeting. In an interview after the meeting, Sablan said the proposal to cut the governor’s office by $250,000 and the lieutenant governor’s office by $250,000, and to eliminate the additional 35 FTEs for Corrections was defeated "after a long deliberation." In a separate interview, Yumul expressed his disappointment regarding the decision of the committee not to cut spending allotments that are unjustified. Yumul was appointed chairman of the special committee on cost-cutting which the speaker formed to address the government’s financial difficulties. "I am very disappointed as chairman of the cost-cutting committee. They appointed me to this special committee, but none of my recommendations were taken into consideration," he said. Yumul noted that from FYs 2010 to 2013, the number of FTEs for Corrections ranged only from 51 to 60. "Why ask for 86 FTEs now when Corrections has managed with 51 to 60 FTEs over the last three years?" Yumul asked, expressing doubts that it was really about the federal consent decrees which, he added, merely required Corrections to be "adequately" staffed. Yumul said his proposal to cut the proposed FY 14 budgets of the governor and lt. governor is based on the amount of their respective offices’ expenditures over the last four years. In FY 2010, expenditures by the governor’s office amounted to about $848,000. It dropped to about $505,000 in 2011 and went further down to $482,592 in FY 2012. Although the governor’s expenditures went up to more than $1 million in FY 13, the average expenditures for the governor’s office over the last four years is around $700,000. Yumul believes that is the amount that the governor’s office should get in FY `14, and not $981,000 as proposed. In the lieutenant governor’s office, the FY 2010 expenditure level was $383,000. It went down to $248,000 in FY 2011 but went up to $344, 000 in FY 2012. Even if the lieutenant governor’s office is getting the same amount as in FY 13 which is $662,000, it is still way too high considering the average amount over the last four years. He pointed out that during the last four years those two offices have been operating on a reduced budget, so why have a high budget at a time when everybody else was getting less. But Sablan explained that the $250,000 that is proposed to be cut from the governor’s office and lt. governor’s office are small amount compared to the big responsibilities of the offices. He said the governor and lieutenant governor’s offices "are there to ensure that basic and critical public services are provided." Sablan said in the past when budget issues come up the governor has had to have the flexibility to reprogram funds at his disposal, for those urgent needs. "And basically, it is to provide him the flexibility that is commensurate with the responsibilities of his office. And that is the point we are trying to get across. We have to be mindful of the big responsibility of that office. The same is true of the lt. governor’s office," Sablan said. Sablan said Corrections Commissioner Ray C. Mafnas met with him hours before meeting and told him the department has been "critically" understaffed and is not in compliance with the consent decree with the federal government. The commissioner also shared with Sablan the challenges Corrections faces every day as a result of being understaffed. It involves the safety of the Corrections officers who are insufficient in numbers to watch over 240 inmates. 25 FTEs The Ways and Means Committee also set aside 25 unfunded FTEs. The administration earlier proposed 100 full-time equivalents "for the entire executive branch, which may be filled upon the governor’s approval, provided that the FTE shall be restricted to positions that are essential to the delivery of public services." Sablan said we reduced it to 25 and provided the governor with the flexibility to hire for critical positions. He said they did not fund salaries of the 25 personnel of Parks and Recreation but included a provision in the budget that in the event the privatization of the division does not happen by Oct. 1, the budget for the division’s "all others" will be used to continue its operations. The $468,179 "all others" budget, will be used to pay the contract awarded to the private sector in light of Parks of Rec’s privatization. If the division is privatized, its civil service employees should be afforded the opportunity to either transfer to other agencies or go into private employment under the private contract arrangement, Sablan said.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:22:12 +0000
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