Pacific Magazine > Daily News

Lawmakers Sign Special Aid Petition

By Agnes E. Donato on Saipan
Thursday: May 15, 2008

A proposal to grant a combined $30-million aid package to the Northern Marianas and American Samoa is gaining support in the U.S. Congress.

Fourteen lawmakers from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have signed a petition calling for an emergency supplemental appropriation of $15 million each for the Northern Marianas and American Samoa. The aid package is seen to help offset the economic impact of federally imposed minimum wage hikes.

In a letter, the lawmakers said the funds “will serve as a fiscal bridge to a sustainable future for American Samoa and CNMI, and … will save both economies from economic collapse.”

“We are requesting $15 million for each territory to use in assisting employers and employees, citizens and guest workers, and the local governments during this difficult and challenging period. These funds will maintain economic stability for the next year until such time as Congress reviews the economic impact of further increases in minimum wage,” they added.

The group is led by California Rep. Michael Honda and American Samoa Rep. Eni Faleomavaega, chair and vice chair of the Congressional Asian and Pacific American Caucus.

The Fitial administration welcomed the lawmakers’ petition. “We appreciate it, and we want to see more support for the islands,” said Charles P. Reyes Jr., the governor’s spokesperson.

Reyes gave credit to the lobbying firm, which the Northern Marianas government hired last month to push for the federal aid. “This might be a reflection of the effectiveness of the lobbyist we had hired for just $25,000. Imagine the benefits if we can get the $15 million,” he said.

The CNMI and American Samoa governments initially opposed any further hikes to their minimum wage rates. Seeing that Congress would not amend the federal wage law, they asked for the aid package to cushion the impact of the wage hikes.

The next 50-cent hike will apply on May 26, 2008. The minimum wage will continue to increase every year until it reaches the federal level of $7.25 an hour.

The U.S. lawmakers said they prefer to delay minimum wage hikes from every year to every two years, and to allow increases only if the U.S. labor secretary finds that the hikes would not cause job loss in the islands. But congressional committees reviewing the proposal have already opposed such proposals.

The Association of Pacific Island Legislatures has adopted a resolution backing the CNMI and American Samoa’s aid request.

“The funds will provide necessary support for the local economies during this period of economic crisis in each jurisdiction, and will create the base of information that will assist the Congress committees’ interest in helping these jurisdictions attain a greater degree of economic sustainability,” the APIL has said.

Northern Marianas Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and American Samoa’s Faleomavaega, who made the original request to Congress, have said the money would be spent on “investments in critical areas that have the potential to bring multiplying economic benefits.”