Pacific / Northern Marianas

CNMI legislature agrees on $US145m budget

07:18 am on 16 September 2017

Both houses of the Northern Marianas congress has swiftly passed a compromise version of its $US145 million budget for 2018.

A conference committee agreed to the spending plan following intense discussions after the House rejected Senate amendments last Monday.

The House had opposed the indirect cut on the Marianas Visitors Authority's budget of about $US1.5 million.

Through the conference committee, $US550,000 will be restored to the tourism agency's budget.

It also had issues with amendments that hiked funding for both Rota and Tinian.

In its final version, the budget bill gave $US8.1 million to Rota, while Tinian's allocation remains unchanged at $US8.4 million.

The budget will now go to Governor Ralph Torres, who must sign it into law by 1 October, or face a partial government shutdown.