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10/10/2025 - Educators made their thoughts known, as the House of Representatives tackled anew the CNMI Public School System’s guaranteed 25% share of government revenues in a session last Oct. 9.
During public comments at the said House session, Education Commissioner Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho warned that House Legislative Initiative 24-1 would weaken protections voters put into the CNMI Constitution in 2014 when they raised PSS’ guaranteed share from 15% to 25%. Camacho said the measure could strip millions from school funding, pointing to a $10.7 million shortfall in this year’s budget.
“It is a promise, a promise that our children's education will always be protected, no matter who is in office or how politics may change over the year. When the people of the Commonwealth voted in 2014 to raise the Public School System's guaranteed funding from 15% to 25% of general revenues, they spoke clearly and overwhelmingly in favor of that change. The people understood what was at stake,” he said.
Camacho added that people of the CNMI wanted to give their schools and children stability, and they made that promise part of the CNMI Constitution so that future leaders could not easily take it away, while adding that the cut directly affects teachers’ workloads, instructional days, and accreditation.
Board of Education teacher representative Dr. Dora Miura called the initiative “problematic,” saying it contradicts the CNMI Supreme Court’s 2020 certified question ruling. She said debt service should not be excluded from general revenues before calculating PSS’ share.
She also appealed to lawmakers to always make “Students First,” which also serves as the slogan of the local PSS.
“We understood that education helps our citizens become productive members of our society. It encourages our youth to want to better themselves. It encourages our youth to want to better their lives. It encourages our youth to want to better the CNMI and the world. We also understood that education is expensive, but that the cost is worth the investment. Our youth, our future, our Commonwealth. What message are we sending when we cannot and do not want to set a high priority on education?”
Board member Maisie Tenorio added that the measure misstates parts of the CNMI Supreme Court opinion, which cited examples of special revenues but never defined debt service as one. She urged lawmakers to seek judicial clarification rather than repeatedly altering the CNMI Constitution.
“This is not what the Supreme Court decided was the definition of special revenue. They were simply stating governor Torres' argument at the time. Additionally, further down in the slip of opinion, the Supreme Court does say, any revenue stream may not be rendered special merely by enunciating a purpose, which means you cannot say that a revenue is special just by saying that it's special,” she said.
HLI 24-1, authored by Rep. Blas Jonathan “BJ” Attao, seeks to amend Article XV, Section 1 of the CNMI Constitution to calculate PSS’ 25% appropriation on net general revenues—revenues left after debt service and statutory obligations are credited. Supporters argue this will prevent inflated obligations that, at times, have exceeded total available revenues.
Several representatives acknowledged the concerns raised but emphasized the need to balance education funding with other fiscal responsibilities.
Rep. Angelo Camacho said lawmakers should also examine casino-related revenues and potential investors to shore up government finances.
“Every year, we struggle to find funding to pay our retirees. And I think this is one step that we can take moving forward. But again, I think we should work on, you know, just sharing our ideas and thoughts and maybe perhaps making some amendments in the current casino law,” he said, while urging discussions with new operators of the former Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC property.
Rep. TJ Manglona stressed collaboration rather than confrontation when he said, “We all have a job to do to take care of the whole government. And I think what's needed is just more collaboration with PSS and more understanding with our finances, where they're at, where we're at, and coming to an agreement that makes sense for all of us. And I know that we're in a tough situation right now, but I have hope. And just like Rep. Yumul mentioned, you know, we have the casino. There are potential investors out there.”
Floor leader Rep. Marissa Flores echoed calls for financial transparency, noting that the administration of Gov. David M. Apatang had pledged to deliver fiscal year 2026 budget figures to the House Ways & Means Committee during a recent press conference.
“My hope is that we receive something soon because the public is looking at the Legislative Branch to do something and do anything, and the ball's in their court. And I'm hoping that they could provide our chairman with the information that is needed so that we can compromise appropriately, fairly, and finally get this fiscal year 2026 budget approved,” she said.
Rep. John Paul Sablan supported bringing in stakeholders such as Team King Investment (CNMI) LLC, which controls the Garapan casino property, and suggested scaling down casino mandates to make the investment more realistic. He added that revenue-generating bills should be openly deliberated by the House’s Ways & Means panel and the Senate’s Fiscal Affairs Committee.
“Include also looking at amending the casino law to make it more realistic and kind of lessen the mandates, such as the 2,000-room mandate, the state-of-the-art water park, and the convention center. We want to scale it down where it's really feasible for investors to do business in our Commonwealth,” he said.
HLI 24-1 has been referred to the House committees on Ways & Means and Education. If it clears both chambers by a three-fourths vote, the proposed amendment will be placed before CNMI voters in the next general election.
Report by Mark Rabago
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