By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

WITH Gov. Felix P. Camacho back from his official U.S. trip, a showdown is looming between the governor and the Legislature in tomorrow’s oversight hearing on the government of Guam’s finances.
This, as administration sources told Variety yesterday that Wednesday’s hearing may not even occur. The sources, who declined to be identified, described the oversight hearing as “illegal.”
They said Vice Speaker Eddie Calvo, R-Maite, who called for the meeting, did not issue sufficient notice as required by law. The senator’s office, however, said Wednesday’s hearing will move forward as scheduled.
The governor was in a fighting mood yesterday as he castigated the Legislature for playing a “blame game” and offering no real solutions to the financial problems of GovGuam.
Camacho’s statement comes after Calvo rebuked administration officials who attended a roundtable discussion last week for not providing details about the state of GovGuam’s finances.
It is for this reason that Calvo decided to elevate the inquiry into an official oversight hearing.
Camacho acknowledged yesterday that the placing of Guam on bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s credit watch had negative implications.
The governor said this confirmed what he said during his State of the Island Address that GovGuam is in deep financial crisis, with long-term liabilities and problems in growing the island’s revenue base.
The Standard & Poor’s report was released by the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority over the weekend.
This angered Calvo again, saying that the Legislature should have been given official notice of the Standard & Poor’s report.
Calvo is also the chairman of the legislative finance committee.
According to the senator, this is the second time that the administration failed to communicate to the Legislature important information.
Last week, Calvo said the Legislature was not informed about the administration’s proposal to obtain a $6 million line of credit to fund the Guam Public School System payroll.
If the oversight hearing is held on Wednesday, the governor said lawmakers should work with the administration to find “real solutions” to the problems.
Camacho said the Legislature should not just engage in their usual tongue lashing, laying all the blame on the administration.
He urged the Legislature to revisit the current fiscal year 2007 budget in order to deal with the current fiscal crisis.
“Some senators only want to focus on the 2008 budget but the crisis we have now deals with the current budget and the structural imbalances that exist,” Camacho said.
The governor said he fully expects his administration to come under attack at the Wednesday oversight hearing being called for by Calvo.
Camacho scolded some senators in the Republican legislative majority for playing politics and avoiding the issues.
“That’s fine but really, instead of the attacks, how about you offering some solutions?” the governor said.
On Friday, GEDCA released a statement on Guam’s recent placement on the firm’s “Credit Watch,” with the report citing structural imbalances in the government of Guam budget.
“This will take work from the executive and legislative branches of government to make immediate changes to existing laws so that we can bring about significant adjustments to the operations of this government and address the structural imbalances in the current budget,” Camacho said.
The governor returned this weekend from attending various official functions off-island.
“This trip was an opportunity to advance the agenda of the Camacho-Cruz administration in Washington D.C.,” the governor said.
The governor attended the 2007 National Governors Association Winter Meetings, themed “Innovation America,” where he met with other governors to discuss efforts to improve the nation’s economic competitiveness through innovation.
Camacho also attended several other meetings with members of the U.S. Department of Defense, Congress, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.