December 3, 2009
For Immediate Release

Island legislators support new method to compute Compact Impact reimbursements

A proposal to properly calculate and address full reimbursements for areas affected by the migration of Compact Impact citizens was adopted on Thursday Dec. 3rd at the 50th Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures’ (APIL), being held in Honolulu, Hawaii this week.

Speaker Judith T. Won Pat, and Senators Rory J. Respicio and James V. Espaldon introduced Resolution No. 50-BOD-04 (as amended). Speaker Won Pat is the Secretary of the APIL Board of Directors, and Senators Respicio and Espaldon are Board members.

Speaker Won Pat said: “This resolution proposes that a task force be established comprising members from the Department of the Interior (DOI) and from the jurisdictions affected by Compacts of Free Association (COFA) citizens. The goal of the task force is to develop a uniform methodology to calculate the actual costs of providing services that are required by the Compact agreements. We are also requesting that DOI provide funding for designing and implementing an information system so that each jurisdiction can track and analyze data on the services provided to COFA citizens.”

Senator Respicio said: “This was the topic at a public hearing on this issue held yesterday (December 2nd) in Hawaii’s Senate. Members of the Hawaii Legislature discussed this issue at length with several COFA citizens, and as expected Hawaii is experiencing the same problems that we have experienced in Guam. It is a moral obligation of the United States to take care of the health and other costs associated with COFA citizens who choose to live in United States or in any of its jurisdictions.”

Senator Espaldon said: “Each area affected by COFA citizens uses their own means to track, collect and analyze this data, and we have not been able to compare information across the board. It is important for us to standardize our data collection, and present a unified front on this matter when we seek our reimbursements. If we follow guidelines developed in concert with DOI, it should be fairly simple to determine our real expenses.”

Senator Respicio commended current APIL President and Hawaii State Senator Kalani J. English for the productive and substantive meeting. The next meeting will be held in Kiribati next summer. The APIL is an organization of Pacific island nations, states and territories that meets periodically to consider matters of mutual interest. It was established in 1981.

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