$1,000 per day stipend for Con-Con delegates raises questions from the public

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The more than half a million dollars allocated to go to the 129 delegates of the Constitutional Convention is drawing a lot of criticism from the public, with some taking their frustrations online. Chairman Tuaolo Manaia Fruean confirmed throughout the week of the Constitutional Convention that each delegate will receive $1,000 per day for their attendance and five days means it’s $5,000 total per delegate seat.

For the 129 delegate seats, that amounts to a total of $645,000 — and it’s been noted that some delegates appointed from their respective constituencies were absent on some days.

On the second day of the Constitutional Convention, Tuaolao pointed out that each delegate should receive a stipend of $1000 per day. He added that $1.3 million was budgeted for the Con-Con and if there is not enough funding, a supplemental budget can be submitted when the budget hearings begin next week.

Tuaolo said the last Constitutional Convention was in 2010 and it’s unclear if this would be the last time that some of the Chiefs of the territory would take part in the Con-Con and he said that the money is not important, but there must be consideration for the elders of the territory who took part in the Constitutional Convention.

Last year the American Samoa Government through executive order of Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga directed ASG’s Office of Political Status, Constitutional Review and Federal Relations — referred to by many as the Political Status Office (PSO) — to prepare for the Constitutional Convention for this year and allocated $1.37 million to fund the Constitutional Convention and it was included in the government’s fiscal year 2022 supplemental bill of $12.65 million already signed into law in September, 2021.

The funds include paying for personnel, supplies and contractual services.

On Friday, once again, Tuaolo informed the delegates that each of them should receive $1,000 per day that amounts to $5,000 if they attended all five days.

The Executive Director, Tapa’au Dan Aga did not respond to our questions about the stipends, nor did the Governor’s Chief of Staff.

Manu’a residents was one group of people that took their frustration to social media saying the significant amount of the Con-Con stipend should be directed for a “better cause” — like evacuating people from Manu’a given the swarm of earthquakes occurring around their islands.