SAIPAN – The Department of Finance has notified Northern Mariana Islands Settlement Fund retirees and beneficiaries that it has enough money to make the scheduled 25 percent pension payment on August 31 and nothing after that, reopening the funding fight that consumed the Legislature in July.
In a notice released Monday, Finance said it told the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee in a July 13 letter that $2.6 million was needed to sustain the 25 percent payments, but only $1.6 million was appropriated under Public Law 24-34. The resulting $1 million gap will halt payments after August 31 unless the Legislature provides additional budget authority, the department said.
Public Law 24-34, signed by Governor David M. Apatang on July 24, appropriated $2,105,563 in fiscal year 2025 surplus revenue to the Public School System and the 25 percent retiree pension obligation. The notice is the first public accounting of how much of that total went to the pension side.
Finance said retirees who lose the 25 percent payment may not have enough remaining benefit to cover health and life insurance premiums or Member Home Loan payments, and will need to pay those obligations directly to the Group Health Life Insurance Trust Fund or the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund. The NMIRF and GHLI office can be reached at 664-5455 or 664-5456.
The department said it recognizes the importance of the payments and will continue to work with the Office of Management and Budget should funding sources become available. Questions can be directed to the Division of Administrative Services at 664-1100.
The notice comes six weeks after the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee said the administration had $15.5 million available to fund the payments through the end of the fiscal year, a figure Finance disputed at the time. The fiscal year ends September 30.
