The Northern Marianas Governor, Benigno Fitial, is expected to ask Congress to halt further increases to the CNMI minimum wage at a congressional hearing in Washington D.C.
The Governor will tell the hearing that continued federal minimum wage increases would compound the Commonwealth's economic problems.
He will urge Congress to defer future federal wage hikes until it is clear that the local economy can afford to sustain such increases with healthy economic growth.
He will say the Federal Government should not force the CNMI to meet an economic standard it is wholly incapable of meeting under current circumstances.
