TITLE 4: ECONOMIC RESOURCES
DIVISION 5: BUSINESS REGULATION
§ 5661. Business License Application Task Force. There is hereby created within the government of the CNMI a Business License Application Task Force, consisting of one representative from each of the agencies or departments from which a license applicant needs approval or clearance in order to obtain a business license. The director, general manager, or chief executive officer of the agency or department shall designate the representative for each such agency. The representative from the Department of Revenue and Taxation shall be the Chairperson of the Task Force and shall preside over its meetings and direct its activities. Source: PL 12-76, § 2, modified. Commission Comment: PL 12-76 took effect November 30, 2001 and contained the following legislative findings and severability provisions: Section 1. Legislative Findings. The Legislature recognizes that obtaining a business license to do business in the CNMI have been unnecessarily inconvenienced, if not frustrated because a business license cannot be obtained at a single governmental office. The applicants have had to drive around to many places that are miles apart. Unless the process is streamlined, unnecessary delays will result in frustration with the system, resulting in diverting businesses elsewhere. In furtherance of reducing the time, travel and delay caused by having to visit many agencies to complete a business application procedure, the Legislature finds that a task force should be created to study the feasibility of implementing a OneStop Business Application Center at the Department of Revenue and Taxation and to compile the steps necessary for such implementation, including consideration of an electronic licensing process vis-a-vis a licensing website. ... Section 5. Severability. If any provision of this Act or the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance should be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Act or the application of its provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby.