Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee chair Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider said that financial data provided by the Department of Finance shows there is sufficient money available to continue retirees' 25% supplemental pension benefit through the remainder of fiscal year 2026, unless the administration has not been fully transparent with the information it has shared with lawmakers.

“Based on the exercise that we did for fiscal year 2026, sufficiently provided for the 25% for the remainder of the fiscal year,” Hofschneider told Marianas Press in an interview last June 10.

He said legislative fiscal analysts, working with figures supplied by the Department of Finance, determined that approximately $11.9 million is needed to fund the benefit through Sept. 30 and that available resources exceed that amount.