The Northern Marianas legislative
bureau and youth congress will implement austerity measures
from Monday next week.
The Marianas Variety
reported bureau director Perry Tenorio citing a revised
fiscal year 2026 budget, saying management has to implement
a reduction in work hours to ensure fiscal
sustainability.
Effective 12 January, staff of the
bureau and youth congress will have their work hours reduced
to 72 hours per pay period.
Tenorio said the
adjustment is “a direct response to the budgetary
constraints imposed by the revised budget, aligning our
expenditures with available funding”.
Tenorio said the
austerity measure “aims to minimize impacts on Legislative
Bureau and Youth Congress staff as much as possible while
striving to maintain essential services”.
He said the
changes, which will have impacts on staff overtime and
salaries, will remain in effect for the 2026 financial year,
unless additional resources are identified.
It comes
as Northern Marianas governor David Apatang tightens
the belt across the board.
Apatang last week
signed the Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Act into law –
but only after vetoing line items he said would have pushed
the budget out of balance.
Overall spending was set at
US$134.5 million, a level the administration said reflects
the ongoing reality of declining general fund
revenues.
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