CNMI Senate reluctantly OKs land compensation bill

Despite the strong reluctance of Tinian and Rota senators, the bill that would pay off the CNMI government’s largest and oldest land compensation obligations on Saipan passed the Senate yesterday.

House Bill 20-103, which appropriates $20.7 million to address the multiple land compensation lawsuits against the CNMI government, passed the Senate on handy vote of 7-1.

That came after several senators expressed disappointment upon learning that land compensation disputes on Tinian and Rota were not addressed in the bill. Sen. Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) was absent from yesterday’s session.

Sen. Paul Mangloña (Ind-Rota), who gave the lone dissenting vote, attempted to insert a floor amendment to re-allocate $7 million each to both Public School System and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., but this was not entertained, resulting in him not supporting the bill.

Read more: http://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/senate-reluctantly-oks-land-compensation-bill/