{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://sablan.house.gov/kilili-chamber-pay-workers-more-minimum", "Kilili to Chamber: Pay workers more than minimum", "2013-11-06", "2013", "2013-11", "Independent", "Senate", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Weeks after the Saipan Chamber of Commerce got its request from Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) to have the 50-cent minimum wage increase delayed this year through legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law on Sept. 18, yesterday was Sablan\u2019s turn to ask the Chamber for something if their bottom line is improving: Please pay your workers more. Chamber members and guests greeted Sablan\u2019s request with warm applause and nods.\nThe same law that skipped the 2013 and 2015 minimum wage hike also conveyed to the CNMI 3 miles of submerged lands, which Sablan worked on since he was first sworn into office. The CNMI can now use these submerged lands for its economic development.\u00a0 In his remarks at the Chamber of Commerce general membership meeting yesterday, Sablan said there is nothing in the federal minimum wage law that says employers cannot pay more than the minimum. The CNMI\u2019s minimum wage is now at $5.55 an hour. A 2007 U.S. law requires annual increase until it reaches the federal wage floor of $7.25 an hour. \u201cIf our economy is getting better, if you have more customers, if your bottom line is improving, please pay your workers more,\u201d Sablan said, drawing applause and nods. The delegate asked Chamber members and guests gathered at Hyatt Regency Saipan\u2019s Sandcastle not to wait for the federal government to force them do increase their workers\u2019 wages. Tourist arrivals and hotel occupancy have posted considerable increases, and the government\u2019s actual revenue collections have exceeded projections. \u201cPay your workers more. Because when your workers have more money in their pockets, we all do better. Those workers will spend what they earn\u2014in your stores, at your businesses,\u201d he told the crowd. Just so the business community doesn\u2019t feel that he\u2019s picking on them, Sablan also shone light on some of the CNMI lawmakers and others, some of whom criticize him for thinking he doesn\u2019t do enough for them. The delegate cited, among other things, the submerged lands conveyance despite a gridlock in Congress, some $120 million in Medicaid under Obamacare, getting extra food stamps, and continued over $200 million in annual federal spending. \u201cWell, to those people\u2014and I won\u2019t mention any names\u2014if you want to show how much you care, then raise the minimum wage. We have a local minimum wage law. It\u2019s still stuck at $3.05 an hour. And many people in the Commonwealth work for small business or in occupations that are not even covered by the federal minimum,\u201d he said. The Northern Marianas Descent Corp., among other groups, has been opposing a CNMI-specific provision in a U.S. Senate national immigration reform bill. That bill, S. 744, provides a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented aliens in America. The CNMI provision grants pathway to green card to long-term, legal foreign workers in the CNMI. Rep. Felicidad Ogumoro (R-Saipan), one of the members of the NMD Corp., said Sablan should not \u201csidetrack\u201d the issue of immigration reform with minimum wage. \u201cWe are not talking about salary increases, please don\u2019t sidetrack the issue. We want to get an answer to our questions with regards to the immigration reform bill. What is keeping him from sitting down with us? He\u2019s the best person to explain because he\u2019s the one that put that provision in S. 744,\u201d Ogumoro told Saipan Tribune during a House session break late yesterday afternoon. Sablan said there are people who are not interested in solutions. \u201cThey are all about politics, the politics of pitting one group of people against another. It\u2019s not just here. It\u2019s why we have gridlock in Washington. But part of the reason I have been successful in Washington is that I have tried to stay away from the push and pull of politics. I try to stay focused on my job, working to help the people of the Northern Marianas,\u201d he said. Obamare\u00a0 As an aside, Sablan said he wants to address some confusion about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. \u201cMost of Obamacare does not apply in the Marianas. Your employers don\u2019t have to buy health insurance for workers,\u201d he said. Individuals here are also not required to buy insurance. There are no tax penalties either. Sablan said given the mess the healthcare rollout has been, he\u2019s glad the CNMI is not involved. But he said looking forward, five or 10 years, \u201cI think we may want to get on board.\u201d \u201cBecause making sure everyone in the Commonwealth can see a doctor when they need to, getting the federal government to help everyone pay for health insurance\u2014those are worthwhile goals I think,\u201d he said. Former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann was also a Chamber guest speaker. He spoke about the development of a Marianas chapter of the Pacific Century Fellows Program, a leadership development program.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://sablan.house.gov/kilili-chamber-pay-workers-more-minimum"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4582988806068897, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}