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NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS: HOUSE PASSES ANTI-CORRUPTION MEASURES

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In a unanimous vote, the House of Representatives passed two bills aimed at combating corruption in the Northern Mariana Islands. The measures, which now head to the Senate for consideration, seek to strengthen anti-corruption laws and protect whistleblowers who report wrongdoing.

Bills Aimed at Combating Corruption

The first bill, HB 22-104, also known as the CNMI Public Servant Anti-Corruption Act of 2022, was authored by Rep. Vicente Camacho. The measure seeks to add new provisions to the law related to public corruption, official misconduct, and other unlawful influence and related offenses committed by public officials.

Key Provisions

  • Makes it a crime for public servants to accept bribes, punishable by imprisonment ranging from one to five years, along with fines of up to $50,000.
  • Punishes receiving bribes with imprisonment ranging from one to three years, accompanied by fines of the same amount.

The second bill, HB 22-83, the Commonwealth-wide Whistleblower Protection Act, was authored by Rep. Leila Staffler. This bill provides protection to government employees who report prohibited personnel practices and rewards individuals who report underpayments of taxes.

Key Provisions

  • Provides a reward of $500 or up to 5% of the collected proceeds for any person who makes a complaint or discloses information that leads to the recovery of public funds.
  • Authorizes the Department of Finance to pay the reward.

Support from Representatives

Rep. Staffler praised her colleagues for their work on the bill, citing “unbelievable levels of gross mismanagement and waste of public funds and abuse of authority” uncovered by committee investigations.

Rep. Tina Sablan expressed full support for the bill, calling it a step towards protecting government employees against unethical and illegal activity. She thanked Staffler for leading the effort to strengthen whistleblower protection laws.

Conclusion

The passage of these measures is seen as a significant step forward in the fight against corruption in the Northern Mariana Islands.