Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

Recovery Plan 

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds 

2021 Report

 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 1 

COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS 

2021 Recovery Plan 

Table of Contents 

General Overview ...................................................................................................................... 2 

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 2 

Uses of Funds ......................................................................................................................... 3 

Promoting Equitable Outcomes ............................................................................................... 6 

Community Engagement ......................................................................................................... 7 

Labor Practices ....................................................................................................................... 8 

Use of Evidence ...................................................................................................................... 8 

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category ........................................................................... 8 

Project Inventory ....................................................................................................................... 8 

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision .............................................................................. 8
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2 

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Executive Summary 

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a remote US territory in the 

Western Pacific whose economy is solely dependent on East Asian countries for tourism. 

The tourism industry is the major contributing factor of the CNMI’s economic base. The U.S. 

Department of Housing and Urban Development has designated and classified all 

municipalities of the CNMI as Nonmetropolitan Difficult Development Areas, “an area which 

has high construction, land, and utility costs relative to area median gross income.” With the 

arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CNMI was negatively impacted socially and 

economically. East Asian countries have adopted COVID-19 rules and regulations that have 

made tourism travel difficult in small numbers. The tourism industry employs and supports 

the majority of the CNMI’s population. Through the course of the pandemic, most of these 

businesses have either suspended or closed their establishments leading to furloughs of 

most of our population. Currently, a large number of local families have survived on Federal 

aid and family members that are employed with the CNMI government. With funding 

assistance provided through our federal partners with the recent passage of the American 

Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds 

(CSLFRF) would benefit the CNMI in ways that will provide our islands a clear path towards 

recovery. The CSLFRF provide substantial flexibility for each government to meet local 

needs—including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential 

workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. These funds can also be used to 

make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. As a US 

territory, the CNMI was allocated a total of $481,876,521 with broad flexibility to decide how 

best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities. The CNMI plans to use the 

fiscal recovery funding for the following categories based on Section 602 of the Act: 

(A) To respond to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 

2019 (COVID–19) and its negative economic impacts, including assistance to 

households, small businesses, and non-profits, and aid to impacted industries such as 

tourism, travel, and hospitality. 

B) To respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID–19 public health 

emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers of the territory that are 

performing such essential work, and by providing grants to eligible employers that have 

eligible workers who perform essential work. 

(C) For the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue of 

the territory due to the COVID–19 public health emergency relative to revenues collected 

in the most recent full fiscal year of the territory prior to the emergency. 

(D) To make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. 

Figure 1 below illustrates the CNMI’s plans for spending the CSLFRF under each indicated 

category for Fiscal Year 2021.

 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 3 

Figure 1: Fiscal Year 2021 Spending Plan Allocations

Uses of Funds 

The CNMI is committed to using these funds in an effort to provide for a strong, equitable, 

economic and inclusive recovery that would meet the needs of our islands and their 

communities. In consultations with Governor Ralph DLG. Torres, the administration has 

provided its version of the ARPA Spending Plan on June 4th, 2021 that was presented by the 

Secretary of Finance to members of all branches of the CNMI government, autonomous 

agencies, and media organizations who were present as part of our island’s guiding 

principles. In order to maximize our programmatic impact, distribution and expenditure of 

these funds based on these principles to address areas significantly impacted by the 

pandemic and the needs of each islands’ communities. Below are the following Intended 

Use of the Funds: 

Intended Use of Funds 

For Fiscal Year 2021, the CNMI allocated the following funds for each section as indicated:

 

A. $40 Million allocated to respond to the public health emergency with respect to COVID–

19 and its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small 

businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and 

hospitality. The intention of these funding allocations will be to fund vaccine incentive 

programs, create programs to help small businesses, and provide direct assistance to 

nonprofits, travel, tourism, and hospitality industries. 

Section A

$40M

Section B

$3M

Section C

$75M

Section D

$17.2M

FY2021 Allocations
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 4 

Households $12,400,000 

Small Businesses $4,000,000 

Nonprofits $4,000,000 

Tourism, Travel and Hospitality $19,600,000

B. $6 Million allocated to respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID–

19 public health emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers of the CNMI 

that are performing such essential work, and by providing grants to eligible employers 

that have eligible workers who perform essential work. 

C. $75 Million allocated for the provision of government services to the extent of the 

reduction in revenue of the CNMI due to the COVID–19 public health emergency relative 

to revenues collected in Fiscal Year 2019. 

To make funding available to restore reduction of hours and reinstate furloughs 

affected by the loss of government revenues due to the public health emergency 

beginning March 2021 through 9/30/22 

$14,625,000 

To make funding available for the for the provision of government services, its 

operations and activities affected by the loss of revenue due to the public health 

emergency from March 2021 through September 30, 2022 

$15,615,000 

To make funding available for the operations and activities of the Judicial Branch 

of government affected by the loss of government revenue due to the public 

health emergency from March 2021 through September 30, 2022 

$990,000 

To make funding available for the operations and activities of the Legislative 

Branch of government affected by the loss of government revenues due to the 

public health emergency from March 2021 through September 30, 2022 

$2,295,000 

To make funding available for the payment of government utilities in arrears 

from March 2021 through September 30, 2022 

$6,000,000 

To make funding available to educational institutions across the Commonwealth 

from March 2021 through September 30, 2022 

$4,500,000 

To make funding available for the Medicaid match requirement from March 2021 

through September 30, 2022 

$12,600,000 

To make funding available for the payment of the government's arrears to 

patient providers seeking medical care abroad not available in the 

Commonwealth 

$7,500,000 

To make funding available to create an ecommerce system for the CNMI 

government. The government services to the community were hampered 

because of COVID-19 safety protocols limiting government services to the 

$4,500,000 

To recover government costs for the premium pay extended to first responders 

performing essential work in responding to the public health emergency in FY 

2021 

$5,100,000 

To make grants available to private companies responding to the public health 

emergency partnering with the government performing essential work during 

the COVID-19 public health emergency 

$900,000 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 5 

general public and preventing government from collection of fees and fines. The 

creation and installation of an e-government system would allow the community 

to access from the safety of their home the ability to conduct business with the 

government such as applying for new or renewal of business licenses, drivers and 

boat operators license, vehicle and boat registration, application for zoning 

permits, paying for fines and citations, building code permits, fire code permits, 

and other licenses and fees 

To make funding available for government land taking for public access $6,375,000 

D. $17.2 Million allocated to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband 

infrastructure. 

Upgrade of communications infrastructure (towers, repeaters, etc.). $1,000,000

To make funding available for the repair of the water distribution. $2,000,000

Water catchment systems for the inhabited islands of Pagan, Alamagan, and 

Agrihan. 

$200,000

To make funding available for an Enterprise Resource Program and Cybersecurity 

systems. 

$2,000,000

To make funding available for the construction of sewer systems. $5,000,000

Land Compensation for expansion of water and wastewater systems. $7,000,000

Actual Use of Funds 

Actual expenses incurred as of July 31, 2021 is described below: 

Section A 

i. $100,000 was given to the ‘Road to 80’ vaccine campaign incentive program. 

ii. $77,322 has been expended through awards to aid non-profit organizations due to 

COVID-19’s negative economic impact. 

iii. $454,758 was expended through awards through organizations within the tourism 

industry impacted by the public health emergency 

Section B 

i. $2,000,000 was expended through awards to the public health corporation for premium 

pay 

Section C 

i. $3,900,584 has been expended to continue government services 

Section D 

i. Funds have not been expended at this time. 

 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 6 

Other Federal Recovery Funds under ARPA 

 The Commonwealth COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance (CCERA) received funding to 

continue providing assistance to qualifying individuals in the CNMI with rental, utilities, and 

other expenses related to housing incurred directly or indirectly due to COVID-19. 

 The CNMI Public School System received funding that will enable them to quickly and safely 

reopen schools for full-time, in-person learning; meet students’ academic, social, emotional, 

and mental health needs; and address disparities in access to educational opportunity that 

were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. 

 The CNMI Nutrition Assistance Program received funding for the Pandemic EBT Program to 

provide reimbursements to eligible students to replace the cost of meals students would have 

received at school if not for the lack of in-person instruction or due to school closures during 

the 2020-2021 school year. P-EBT benefits are coupon benefits that are redeemable just as 

how NAP coupons are redeemed at NAP authorized retailers and vendors.

Promoting equitable outcomes 

Fun Fact: On November 3, 1986, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5564 granting 

the people of the CNMI its status as US Citizens. 

Although the CNMI territory is an underserved/disadvantaged community, the CNMI government 

is committed to promoting equity in applying funds across all allowable use areas. The CNMI is a 

small community of 53,883 people as of the 2010 census. These programs are regularly 

advertised and discussed in the local news, social media outlets, and among the community. 

Information on the intended use of funds was publicly presented and will continue to incorporate 

public input to benefit our local community. 

Various projects from the use of funding include water and wastewater projects that will continue 

to provide essential services to the community, broadband projects to the benefit of all citizens to 

address impacts of the pandemic, funding assistance to non-profits for continued operations, 

direct financial assistance to households (food, housing, and other needs), assistance to impacted 

industries (such as fishing, farming, and the tourism sector), provide premium pay to our frontline 

workers, and provisions of government services which will allow for government operations to 

continue providing its’ services to the community as a whole. Although the list above does 

encompass all the anticipated projects, all citizens will be given unfettered access to the benefits 

of the completed outcome. As the intent is to close gaps and reach universal levels of service, 

the CNMI remains committed to providing the community with as much assistance and service 

that is made possible with this new stream of funding. 

The CNMI government prioritizes providing to disproportionately impacted communities the 

services needed to address health disparities and the social determinants of health, build 

stronger neighborhoods and communities (e.g., affordable housing), address educational 

disparities (e.g., online class, community schools, and academic, social-emotional, and mental 

health supports for high poverty schools), and promote healthy childhood environments (e.g., 

child care). 

The COVID pandemic has caused great harm and widespread panic throughout the CNMI 

community, with the neighboring municipal islands of Tinian and Rota being hit the hardest as 

the funds for these island’s municipalities will be used to help with their impacted industries. 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 7 

State level lockdowns were implemented, and curfew hours were enforced to curtail the 

pandemic forcing government shutdowns and business closures for months, in an effort to 

address health disparities and build a stronger neighborhood and community. Aside from the 

main hospital on island and private clinics, vaccine distributions have now been offered in 

various youth centers throughout the municipalities, and currently are now being offered and 

distributed in public schools in an effort to cater to our youths (12yr & above). Just recently, a 

campaign ad was created by the Public School System (PSS) about the importance of getting 

vaccinated for our youths and following the CDC guidelines of the importance of following the 3 

W’s (wear a mask, wash your hands & watch your distance). 

Funding for the programs is targeted to benefit the community as a whole covering the main 

island of Saipan and neighboring islands of Tinian, Rota and the Northern Islands, with no 

barriers to a certain race, color or ethnicity. 

Community Engagement 

The CNMI understands how important it is for our local community to be engaged and to avail of 

the programs that have been funded by ARPA. Our CNMI population is so diverse with limited 

English proficiency, that we did not adopt English as our official language until becoming part of 

the United States until 1985. The CNMI also has Chamorro and Carolinian as its official 

languages. We are constantly working to serve locally a population that has difficulties with 

English. Aside from the local population, the CNMI also regularly serves the immigrant population 

and takes into account their needs and comments. 

As of July 31, 2021, Funds have already been invested in programs that will strengthen resources 

for community support that is vital for aiding the CNMI on its path towards recovery socially and 

economically in the long term. 

One of these programs is the “Road to 80” vaccination campaign initiative, which launched in July 

and ran through August 27th, 2021. The program was created in partnership by government 

entities and private industry stakeholders in an effort to get the community involved in achieving 

herd immunity or vaccinating 80% of the adult population with the CNMI’s ultimate goal of fighting 

against the COVID-19 pandemic. In a nutshell, individuals who have been vaccinated in the CNMI 

will have automatically been entered in the raffle drawing for a chance to win weekly cash prizes 

to a final grand prize drawing of a 2020 Nissan Rogue SUV on the final day of August 27th, 2021. 

To programs that aid non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross chapter of the 

CNMI, who have been negatively impacted by this pandemic where the organization had lost their 

funding from canceled fundraising event such as the Walkathon in 2020 and 2021, as well as the 

Club 200 which have experience a shortfall on fundraising going from in-person event to a virtual 

event due to this pandemic. 

As well as other programs that include funding for operations to aid Tourism, Travel & Hospitality 

such as the CNMI’s hosting of the Mini Pacific Games for sports tourism industry to programs 

such as the Travel Investment Resumption Plan (TRIP) for operations in an effort to create a 

tourism travel bubble with South Korea in an effort to revive back the CNMI lone revenue 

generating industry – Tourism & Travel. 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 8 

Labor Practices

The CNMI has not awarded or expended any funds for infrastructure projects during the 

reporting period. However, the CNMI’s newly developed Infrastructure and Recovery Program 

will be focusing on these infrastructure and recovery projects with related guidance provided by 

US Treasury. 

Use of Evidence 

The CNMI is in the process of reviewing the requirements of reporting on evidence-based 

interventions. Where appropriate, the CNMI may use program evaluations or evidence-based 

reporting to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approved programs funded with ARPA SLFRF. 

Future versions of this Recovery Plan will include specific approaches for each program where 

appropriate and the CNMI looks forward to robust programmatic reporting and evaluation.

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

Category Cumulative 

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent 

since last 

Recovery Plan

1 Expenditure Category: Public Health 

1.1 COVID-19 Vaccination $100,000

2 Expenditure Category: Negative Economic 

Impacts

2.10 Aid to nonprofit organizations $77,322

2.11 Aid to Tourism, Travel, or Hospitality $454,758

4 Expenditure Category: Premium Pay 

4.2 Private Sector: Grants to other employers $2,000,000

6 Expenditure Category: Revenue Replacement 

6.1 Provision of Government Services $3,900,584

Project Inventory 

The CNMI will provide further information in future reports, as projects develop.

Performance Report 

The CNMI will provide further information in future reports, as projects develop.

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision 

Item Amount

a. Revenue-reducing Covered Changes $ 0