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09/10/2025 - The bill that the House of Representatives passed to authorize a $29-million loan from the Marianas Public Land Trust last Sept. 9 will not only allow the CNMI government to fulfill its obligation to the Settlement Fund, but also bridge the budget shortfall of the Public School System.
House Bill 24-50, which required two-thirds of the House to pass, also authorizes the MPLT to withhold and retain net annual distributable income starting fiscal year 2026 for repayment and security of the loan.
All 16 lawmakers present—House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, floor leader Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, and Reps. Roy A. Ada, Vincent S. Aldan, Daniel I. Aquino Jr., Blas Jonathan T. Attao, Roman C. Benavente, Angelo A. Camacho, Diego F. Camacho, Joel C. Camacho, Joseph A. Flores, Thomas D. Manglona, Elias M. Rangamar, John Paul Sablan, Patrick H. San Nicolas, and Denita K. Yangetmai—voted yes to H.B. 24-50.
Absent from the vote were Reps. Marissa Renee Flores, Julie A. Ogo, Malcom Omar, and Raymond U. Palacios.
Sablan, the bill’s author, explained during deliberations that $29-million loan from MPLT will be used to ensure that government retirees will receive at least 75% of their pension benefits.
Aside from the government’s obligation to the Settlement Fund, the MPLT loan could also address the shortfall in the CNMI Public School System’s fiscal year 2025-2026 budget, which has been set at around $31.7 million.
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, representative or chairman Sablan, for the long-awaited promise that this will put, I guess, at ease a lot of the students out there. So, this would allow us to, I guess, address PSS' issue,” said Yumul.
A day before the MPLT vote, dozens of students from Marianas High School and Kagman High School gathered at the Legislature, asking lawmakers to explain the cut in PSS’ budget and urging lawmakers to abide by the slogan “Students First.”
At the end of their impromptu town hall with the students, Sablan said the CNMI Board of Education has around $19 million in federal consolidated grants, with around $4 million of those meant for professional development. He said PSS can reprogram professional development funds to bridge the shortfall in PSS’ budget.
“PSS management can go back to the grantor because this money, we believe, is flexible and can be used back to the students. [PSS should] go back to the grantor and reset their priorities so that federal funding can funnel through your curricula, your instructional days. It only requires a management letter to the federal agencies that we're resetting our priorities since this is the budget that we got from our central government, and if we can dedicate some of this [funds] million to be infused into your educational instructional days,” said Sablan.
Meanwhile, the passed bill now comes in the form of H.B. 24-50, House Substitute 1, after Sablan offered a straightforward amendment to include subsection 104.
Asked to elaborate on subsection 104 by Yumul, Sablan said it was meant to essentially protect the board of trustees of MPLT from lawsuits if they are sued personally; the government will defend them in any lawsuit.
“When I introduced this bill in our previous session, I mentioned that the board of trustees of Maranos Public Land is different with other boards of trustees. They're pretty much unique. They're the only board of trustees that can be sued personally for whatever decisions are made during their session,” he said.
The MPLT loan bill needed a two-thirds vote in the House because it involved taking on a new government debt. This supermajority requirement is a legal safeguard to ensure that significant financial obligations are not approved lightly.
H.B. 24-50 now goes to the Senate, which also needs two-thirds of its members to pass.
By Mark Rabago
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