(Editor's note: This is the fourth in an expose of the members of the Commonwealth Legislature, who have taken monthly allowances on top of their salaries)
CHAPTER 8: Francisco Cruz
By Jacob Nakamura
(Tumon, Guam) Republican Sen. Francisco Cruz of Tinian wasted no time taking the maximum legislative allowances for all of Fiscal Year 2019 once he was sworn into the Twenty first Commonwealth Legislature in January 2019.
Mr. Cruz wrote to then-Secretary of Finance Larissa Larson on January 15, 2019 requesting $5,000 per month every month from January to the end of the fiscal year - September 2019. That adds up to $45,000 in allowances on top of his legislative salary.
The allowances originally were meant for the cost of legislators from Tinian and Rota to function in both their home islands and in Saipan; however, Mr. Cruz has refused to disclose the receipts of his purchases.
This document is part of a stack Kandit received from the Department of Finance based on an Open Government Act request for its financial documents related to legislative allowances in calendar year 2019. No document exists for allowances for Mr. Cruz after Fiscal Year 2019.
