By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

SENATORS today are expected to go over Gov. Felix P. Camacho’s fiscal recovery strategy plan which the administration submitted to the Legislature last week.
Speaker Mark Forbes, R-Sinajana, has called the Legislature to session at 10 a.m. today to discuss the plan, which calls for a new fiscal year 2007 budget that the governor wants adopted.
According to the governor’s office, a revised FY 2007 budget will be submitted by the administration today that will detail the administration’s plan to cut costs and increase revenues.
Vice Speaker Eddie Calvo, R-Maite and chairman of the finance committee, has agreed to look into the drafting of a new budget but has asked the administration to submit more details.
The fiscal recovery plan submitted by the administration last week called for the raising of fees and an immediate cash infusion of $34 million to meet ongoing operations and payroll requirements.
The administration, however, did not give specifics on which fees were going to be raised and where it would get the $34 million cash infusion.
The Guam Chamber of Commerce, in a statement last week, made clear that it would oppose any new measures that would increase the cost of doing business on Guam.
Among the options available to the administration are the opening of a revolving line of credit, a direct loan from a local bank, or a bond float in the international market.
But a bond float usually takes time and the administration has said that it needs the cash infusion by next month.
Otherwise, the Camacho plan calls for the furlough of thousands of GovGuam workers to keep the government afloat.
The Guam Public School System, which paid a portion of its power bill last week, is facing another payday this week, plus an unpaid water bill, a February monthly bill from the Guam Power Authority, and other miscellaneous bills due to various vendors.
The administration had to borrow $6 million from the Bank of Guam last week to pay the GPSS payroll, but this has resulted in a credit watch issued by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.
Standard & Poor’s has warned that the “structural imbalances” in the GovGuam budget, its long-term liabilities, and the inability of the government’s revenue base to show long-term growth may make it difficult for the administration to borrow money.
If a line of credit is used, the administration would also have to clarify what funding source it can use.
In securing a $6 million Bank of Guam loan, the administration pledged Section 30 funds, which are revenue collected from income taxes filed by military and federal personnel on island.
However, using Section 30 money could deplete the entire fund, which is also used for other projects and programs.