Governor Ralph DLG. Torres on Tuesday proclaimed Wednesday, September 1, 2021 as a Commonwealth Day of Prayer as a mark of solemn respect for U.S. military service members who have served and those who continue to serve during the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and to remember the victims of the August 26, 2021 terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Commonwealth Day of Prayer

Governor Ralph DLG. Torres announced early Tuesday morning that the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded $19.6 million to the CNMI Department of Finance for the construction of a new Economic Resiliency Center.

In accordance with federal regulations from the US Department of Labor (USDOL), the CNMI Department of Labor (CNMI DOL) will begin requiring all Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claimants to conduct three (3) work searches and maintain a log of all work search contacts consistent with Hawaii law starting August 1, 2021 through the end of the program on September 4, 2021.

On Tuesday, Governor Ralph DLG. Torres signed the following bills into law:

On Friday morning, Governor Ralph DLG. Torres announced that the Biden administration approved his request for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to re-include Hong Kong into the CNMI Visa Waiver program.

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) and the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force announced that the CNMI will move to Community Vulnerability Level GREEN beginning Friday, June 18, 2021. 

Governor Ralph DLG. Torres announced that $481,876,521 allocated to the CNMI from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for state, local, and tribal governments have been received by the Department of Finance on Monday afternoon.