By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

THE government of Guam stands to realize savings of about $50 million a year if two reorganization bills that seek to merge related agencies become law, Sen. Frank Ishizaki, R-Yona, said yesterday.
Ishizaki said Bills 83 and 84 would result in the removal of a few department heads as the agencies consolidated under a single department would be supervised by just one director. “The immediate cost savings will be realized in this area,” he told a press conference.
Ishizaki said it might take five years to fully realize the cost savings offered by the reorganization bills and such long-term benefit would result from subsequent attrition. “Over the years, we will eliminate positions that are no longer needed,” he said.
Bill 83 proposes the creation of the Department of Public Safety that would consolidate the Guam Police Department, the Guam Fire Department, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Youth Affairs, the Office of Post-Mortem Examinations, the Motor Carrier Division of the Department of Revenue and Taxation, the responsibilities of the Office of Highway Safety of the Department of Public Works, the Airport Police, the Port Police, and the Airport Fire Division.
Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Yona and co-author of the bill, said the merging of public safety agencies would streamline the process of responding to situations and the handling of cases.
“Right now, if airport police respond to a situation that is outside their jurisdiction, they have to call the Guam Police Department. So it takes about two to three officers to handle a single case,” Blas said.
“If the police agencies are consolidated, a case that is normally handled by three officers could be handled by just one officer and less resources would be used,” he added.
Bill 84 would establish the Department of Housing which would assume all the duties and responsibilities of the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority, and the Guam Housing Corporation.
GHURA executive director Ron de Guzman and deputy director Ben Pinaula joined Ishizaki and Blas at the press conference in support of Bill 84.
De Guzman and Pinaula said the proposed consolidation of GHURA and GHC would result in smoother processing of applications for housing programs and hence provide more chances for people to own houses.
Ishizaki, who was a member of the governor’s reorganization committee in his first term, expressed disappointment with the 28th Legislature’s failure to act on the set of reorganization bills that sought to reduce the number of government departments to 12.
“The bills were publicly heard but never reported out by the committee. I’m hoping that my colleagues in the 29th Legislature will see the need for us to act on these bills,” Ishizaki said.
Ishizaki and Blas said they were considering the reintroduction of the rest of the old reorganization bills that were shelved in the previous Legislature.
Bills 83 and 84 — also cosponsored by Sens. Tony Unpingco, R-Santa Rita, Judi Guthertz, D-Malojloj, Adolpho Palacios Sr., D-Ordot/Chalan Pago — have been referred to the Committee on General Governmental Operations and Reorganization. Bill 84 is scheduled to be heard on April 9 and Bill 83 on April 11.