Senate ready to entertain retiree pension bill Monday if Finance certifies funds

Senate President Karl King-Nabors told members of the CNMI Retirees Association that the Senate is prepared to entertain House Bill 24-84 as early as Monday, July 20, if the Department of Finance certifies that funds are available to cover the remaining 25% pension benefit owed to retirees.

Speaking remotely during an informal meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Fiscal Affairs chaired by Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider, King-Nabors said the Senate has never questioned the House's action on the bill but insists on receiving a formal certification of available funds before moving forward with another appropriation.

"Whether the other House or the administration's position is that the money is there, that's fine. Then sign your name on the certification of funds, furnish it to the Senate, and we'd be more than happy to entertain this on Monday to answer your question," King-Nabors said.

Responding to retirees who questioned why the issue was not raised months ago after the House approved the bill in January, King-Nabors said senators were only recently alerted to the apparent funding shortfall.

"I just want to, again, reiterate that the Senate wasn't made aware of this back in January. The Settlement Fund was the one who triggered this, which surprised the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee, which immediately then began to do its research and trying to understand where all the money, the sources of money went short," he said.

Later in the meeting, he added that lawmakers had believed the pension shortfall had already been addressed in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

"This was not brought to our attention until the Settlement Fund reached out to the retirees directly... We were all under the impression that $14 to $15 million was assigned to an allocation that needed $11.9 million to conclude Fiscal Year 2026," King-Nabors said.

Hofschneider maintained that, based on the Senate's review, lawmakers had already appropriated enough money to fully fund retirees' supplemental pensions through Sept. 30.

"It is the position of the Senate, since this issue first came out publicly back in June, that it's always been our position, and we are confident with our position to this day, that we adequately fund the 25%," Hofschneider said.

He added, "It is our opinion that even if we don't act on it, there is sufficient fund. We authorize that by way of the budget law. The management and the transfer of funds is the responsibility of the executive branch. They are the ones that have the mechanism to make sure that the 25% is whole."

Hofschneider said the Senate did not want retirees to continue bearing the burden of the dispute.

"We don't want this. And also, I don't want to vote on a product that shortchanged you guys," he said.

Sen. Manny Castro said the issue was personal for many lawmakers, including himself.

"My dad is a retiree. He passed away. His surviving spouse is under the same situation that my auntie earlier mentioned. I have a lot of relatives here, too, so don't worry. I'm thinking about all of you guys, too. I'm thinking about all of the retirees," Castro said.

Still, he said the Senate has a duty to ensure any legislation it approves is sound.

"There's a difference between quality and quantity. We can pass a lot of bills, but the Senate's job is to make sure that the bill that's going to go through is a quality bill. We want to make sure that the money is there. We want to make sure that the problem is solved," he said.

Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz, who spoke mostly in Chamorro during the discussion, likewise defended the Senate's position that lawmakers were exercising due diligence before acting on the measure. Cruz said the Senate was not questioning the validity of House Bill 24-84 itself but was seeking a certification from the Department of Finance confirming that the money identified in 2025 remained available.

"All we're asking is fund certification and we're done," Cruz said.

Earlier, he said, "We're not saying that that one is not valid. All I'm saying, we want certification from them, making it so clear, very clear in writing, that that $2.1 [million] is there," explaining that senators wanted verification because the funds had originally been identified in 2025 and were not reflected during the revised Fiscal Year 2026 budget process.

Cruz said approving an appropriation without that documentation would be irresponsible, adding, "Absent the fund certification, it is irresponsible for me to approve something that I don't know whether there is money in there or not."

Retirees, however, urged senators to act quickly to ease months of uncertainty.

Mariano Taitano said retirees simply wanted written assurance that they would continue receiving their full benefits through the end of the fiscal year.

"My biggest concern... if we're guaranteed to receive our full benefit amount up to Sept. 30, 2026... I just thought [the] Settlement Fund and Finance can come up with a statement telling us that we're okay through Sept. 30, 2026," Taitano said.

Another retiree, Jack Angelo, questioned why the Senate's request for a certification surfaced only after House Bill 24-84 had sat in the Senate for months.

"The House passed this bill Jan. 16. So why wasn't this brought up back in January?" Angelo asked.

Remedio Sablan, a retiree and surviving spouse, pleaded with senators to stop prolonging the uncertainty.

"Please pass the bill for now so the retirees can go home and sleep well... Please, we have to stop holding hostages on House Bill 24-84 because enough that we are stressed with all this typhoon and now we're running another stress because of the 25% dilemma. We're very old. We cannot continue to start coming back and face this political issue. We cannot handle it anymore," Sablan said.

Ramon Palacios Crisostomo appealed for leaders from all branches of government to work together.

"We're here because of the uncertainty... Come on, get together, hash it out... if you cannot hash things out, take it to court and let the court decide who's right... We are in the middle of turbulence. Come on, please, leaders. Get together," Crisostomo said.

Del Benson said retirees also wanted to know what lawmakers planned beyond this fiscal year.

"This is a fix for this year. What is being looked at for the future?" Benson asked.

Francisco M. Camacho argued that lawmakers should approve the measure if they already believe the money exists.

"If you pass it... then we don't have a problem right now... There's money. There's lapsed money. Overfunded... I think you're not making a mistake if you pass it," Camacho said.

Jack Villagomez said retirees were equally worried about Fiscal Year 2027, particularly after the economic damage caused by Super Typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi.

"What about for fiscal year '27? It's going to be the same or even worse with the two typhoons that collapsed in our economy," Villagomez said.

He urged the governor, House, Senate, Department of Finance, and the Settlement Fund to meet together privately to resolve the issue.

"Please do it the island way. Why is this issue being debated in the news?" Villagomez said.

The meeting concluded without committee action on House Bill 24-84. However, King-Nabors reiterated that if the Department of Finance provides the requested certification of available funds, the Senate would be willing to entertain the measure during Monday's session.