GUAM’S financial woes are cutting us to the quick, and I mean all of us. From DOE to the Legislature, the strain is felt, whether it be in the form of a pay reduction or the lack of proper resources in schools. But it’s safe to assume that retirees and other COLA recipients are feeling the bite of our budgetary crisis even more sharply.
It is imperative that we find a way to pay our COLA recipients. In many, if not most cases, retirees are on a fixed income and must receive the money due to them each month or they will be unable to sustain themselves. This may sound superficial to some folks, but when on a fixed income, every penny counts and our government must be held accountable to these people so they can pay rent, buy groceries, purchase medications, and perform other essential daily activities.
Bill 68, proposed by Senator Jesse Lujan, is not a perfect solution to the problem. But it is a start in the right direction.
From what I have read of the bill, it appears to at least provide COLA recipients an option or two where they formerly had none. If the government does not have the money to pay COLA recipients, then they at least need to offer some alternative interim solution.
Lujan’s bill would compel DOA to issue notes to COLA recipients. These notes can be held on to until the government can pay their full value, or they can be traded with banks, businesses, or others for an agreed upon portion of their nominal value. While this is less than ideal, it is better than nothing, which is what COLA recipients have been receiving up to now!
While I have great hope that our island and government will soon recover from the current economic depression we face, I think it is going to require some creative thinking from our elected officials to find workable solutions to many of our problems. We have no choice but to work with what we have in hand, and legislation like Bill 68 is representative of the kind of ingenuity we need from our senators in these tough times.

KELLY MARTINEZ
(SSGT. US Army Retired)
Yigo, Guam