TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT DIVISION 2: EXECUTIVE BRANCH
§ 2482
§ 2482. Central Statistics Division Created; Authority; Cooperation; Coordination of Surveys. (a) There is in the Department of Commerce and Labor a Central Statistics Division to be headed by a Chief of Statistics. (b) The Central Statistics Division is authorized to request, collect, compile and report all official statistics covering social, economic and demographic fields as required for the purpose of making policy decisions and to carry out the purposes of this article and to conduct pertinent censuses and surveys. Information shall be collected to enable the production of official statistics relating to the following: (1) Population and housing; (2) Health, welfare and morbidity; (3) Law enforcement and the administration of justice; (4) Data relating to social and physical environment; (5) Labor force, employment and unemployment; (6) Accidents and injuries; (7) Income expenditure and taxation; (8) Land tenure and land use; (9) Assets and liabilities; (10) Prices; (11) Trade and finance; (12) Travel and transportation; (13) Economic, financial, manufacturing, production, and administrative activities; (14) Vital statistics data as defined in 1 CMC § 26005(m) from the Health and Vital Statistics Office; (15) Fish, game, wildlife and endangered and threatened species data from the Department of Lands and Natural Resources; (16) All government maintenance and operation programs; and (17) Other related matters. (c) All department and agency heads and government employees required by this article, or by regulations duly promulgated and adopted by the Department of Commerce and Labor, to provide certain required information, shall inform, submit or provide such information to the chief, Central Statistics Division, or his or her designee, without delay. Private individuals and businesses shall, unless required by law, provide information on a voluntary basis. (d) The Central Statistics Division is empowered to plan, design and execute various types of statistical surveys that are necessary for compilation and publication of the official statistical surveys. Any statistical surveys to be conducted by any branch or subdivision of the Commonwealth government shall be approved by the Statistical Advisory Council and coordinated with the Central Statistics Division prior to undertaking.
§ 2482
TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT DIVISION 2: EXECUTIVE BRANCH Source: PL 7-35, § 3, modified; amended by PL 22-27, § 2 (Jan. 31, 2023).
Commission Comment: In the initial codification, to enhance clarity, the Commission inserted “activities” after “administrative” in subsection (b)(13) and substituted “matters” for “statistics” in subsection (b)(15). With respect to the reference to the “Department of Commerce and Labor,” see Executive Order 94-3 (effective Aug. 23, 1994), reorganizing the executive branch, changing agency names and official titles, and effecting other changes, set forth in the Commission comment to 1 CMC § 2001; see also the comment to 1 CMC § 2451. Legislative Findings of 2023 Amendment.— In addition to severability and savings clause provisions, PL 22-27 included the following Findings and Purpose section: Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Legislature finds that the Central Statistics Division at the Department of Commerce was established, among other things, to make provisions for the collection, tabulation, compilation, publication, and reporting of official statistics and to ensure the accuracy of statistics and the efficiency of the statistical system by establishing a comprehensive coordination of statistical activities and realignment of statistical operations in the CNMI. Although there is a list of official statistical data that the Central Statistics Division is authorized to collect and compile, there are a [sic] some very important data that may, but is not required, to be collected by the Central Statistics Division for analysis and recording purposes. The Legislature finds that although the Central Statistics Division is already required to collect health, welfare and morbidity data, the division is not required to specifically collect vital statistics data as defined in 1 CMC § 26005(m), which includes data derived from certificates and reports of birth, death, fetal death, induced termination of pregnancy, and related reports. These vital statistics data are crucial to policy-making decisions and fiscal appropriations of the CNMI government. The Legislature further finds that fish, game, wildlife and endangered and threatened species data are collected by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. However, the data is not required to be submitted to, nor collected by, the Central Statistics Division for data collection and recording purposes. The statistics data collected by the Division of Fish and Wildlife are critical in determining the health and stock of our fish, game, wildlife and endangered and threatened species. These data are instrumental in assisting elected leaders make informed decisions about sustainable fishing, hunting, and harvesting of our resources. Accordingly, the purpose of this legislation is to authorize the sharing of the vital statistics data as defined in 1 CMC § 26005(m) and fish, game, wildlife and endangered and threatened species data collected by the Division of Fish and Wildlife to the list of information to be used by the Central Statistics Division.