Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia

FSM Congress News, May 15, 2003

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Congress): May 15, 2003 –
Congress discussed and adopted a report by the Special
Committee to Wait on the President during its session this morning. Aside
from the proposed FY 2004 budget, the amended compact and the financial
situation of the government, other issues were considered as equally urgent
and important. These included funding for the special elections in the
States of Chuuk and Yap, funding for the inauguration and FSM athletes to
the South Pacific Games. The report stated that the President considers
these issues as his priority and asked Congress to do likewise.

The Standing Committees have been organized and today started to announce
their meetings. The Committee on Resources and Development (R & D) has
scheduled three sets of public and oversight hearings. Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.
it will meet with the FSM Banking Board. On the 19th of May it will meet
with Department of Economic Affairs and on the 21st of May the committee
will meet with the National Oceanic Resources Management Agency (NORMA).
These meetings will take place at the Central Facilities Conference Room.
The Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations (J & GO) will meet in
its committee room today at 1:00 p.m., while the External Affairs Committee
will meet with the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Committee on Health,
Education and Social Affairs (HESA) will begin with its hearings on Monday.

Right after the morning session, Congress met with officials of the
Department of Finance and Administrations and discussed the procedure to be
used in dealing with the budget under the amended compact.

The department officials stressed that the procedure basically has four
transmittal forms. First the national government and the state governments
submit their “annual performance-based budget” to the FSM President, after
they have been reviewed, then the president will transmit these budgets in
only one package (consolidated) to the United States Government or to a
committee, Joint Economic Management Committee (JEMCO), created under the
compact to review proposals under the compact. The JEMCO will then send to
the FSM President grant award notices for programs and projects to be funded
under the compact based on its review of the consolidated budget submission.
After that the FSM President would transmit to the Congress and the four
state governors JEMCO’s grants award notification. The Congress and state
legislatures would then convene for budget sessions, according to reports
from the department.

Members of Congress and the department officials agreed that this procedure
and other issues would be discussed in details during the meeting with the
President scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at the Central Facilities
Conference Room.

Congress stood in recess at 10:35 this morning and will reconvene tomorrow
at 10:00 a.m.