Rep. Ralph N. Yumul speaks during a House session on Friday.
THE House Ways and Means Committee chairman said department and agency heads should stop hiring people because most of the vacant positions listed in Gov. Arnold I. Palacios' fiscal year 2024 budget proposal will not be funded.
In an interview on Friday, Rep. Ralph N. Yumul said a day after the House committee agreed to defund vacant government positions, except those that were already in the process of hiring, they were "flooded" with calls from departments and agencies asking the committee to reconsider.
Yumul said over the last few days, the Office of Management and Budget had also noted that an “increasing number” of vacant positions were going through the hiring process.
He reiterated the committee's stance that most of the vacant positions will not be funded.
He said the only vacant positions that the committee will consider filling up are those in the Division of Revenue and Taxation and other revenue-generating agencies like the Division of Customs and Biosecurity.
Yumul said even the vacant positions in the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services will not be funded in fiscal year 2024.
He said Ways and Means is trying to address the government’s $9.1 million shortfall, and avoid further reduction in government work hours.
"It is our position that there's a possibility of going down to 64 hours, which is near, if we don't do anything," he said.
He added that the projection of the next fiscal year's revenue depends on the current fiscal year's actual revenue in the third and fourth quarters.
Palacios said last week that "there has always been a revenue shortfall" when asked about the revenue projection for the third and fourth quarters.
Yumul said if a department or agency has FY 2023 funding for vacant positions, then they can hire people but only for the rest of the current fiscal year which ends on Sept. 30.
But starting on Oct. 1, which is the beginning of the new fiscal year, Yumul said there will be no local funding available for any vacant position in government.
He said the committee has allotted a dollar for each of the vacant positions to keep them “alive.” But it's up to the department or agency to find another funding source if they wish to fill those vacant positions because local funding “is not going to be there,” he added.
