ByBen Pangelinan
For Variety

OVER the course of the past several weeks, the Legislature has done all it can to avoid the inevitable. Facing the reality of our financial situation and the fact that “ if you want to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs.”
The appetite is there and we all want the omelet, but we want the other guy to break the eggs.
As in all recipes, you have to go step by step. First it was, “they have the power to raise fees and they have had over five years to do so. Why won’t they just go through the triple A and have public hearings on the fees they want to increase.” The administration’s response: “Just do your job and we can work together.”
Then a sliver lining appeared, the Legislature grudgingly accepted the administration’s fee increase package. We were getting closer to finishing the omelet and the other guy had at least cracked the eggs. We even dispensed with the public hearing requirement that is the cornerstone of the transparency mantra of this administration and this Legislative majority. I guess it was just not the right constituency that was making noise.
Meanwhile, the legislative minority remained steadfast in their commitment to the community that there would be transparency. Certainly raising of existing fees and introducing new fees that will have a significant impact on many is one of utmost importance and requires public input.
The requests for public hearings were disregarded but to keep the public informed of the process, the legislative minority insisted that the agencies be required to present the fee proposal and justify them. At least the public can listen while watching the legislative public access channel on cable television.
Then, the legislative majority decided that changes would be made as to how the omelet should be made and made up their own rules. The doors of the Legislature were swung open and all the rules set in place (by law) for public hearings were ignored to accommodate members of our community that would be impacted by the increase in fees and the implementation of new fees. No advance notice, no publication. It was likened to walking outside the front door of the Legislature’s building and calling to people who passes by to come in and offer testimony.
Never mind that a proper motion was made by the legislative minority to place a temporary halt to the session so that all members of the community could be accommodated in the proper course of a public hearing or roundtable discussion. Even the rules governing the conduct of legislative session were violated. All rules were thrown out the window and the only rule that mattered then was he who holds the majority makes the rules.
It seems that the Legislature has found a way to bypass all the necessary steps to make an omelet without taking responsibility for breaking the eggs. The automatic de-appropriation provision of P.L. 28-149 and 150 and going fee happy at the community’s expense saved the day.
This administration and Legislature will proclaim to balance this budget without having to make any decisions on the real priorities of the government. We are no longer making omelets. Just a messy glob of scrambled eggs.

Ben Pangelinan is a senator in the 29th Guam Legislature and a former speaker now serving in his seventh term in the Guam Legislature.
E-mail comments or suggestions to senbenp@guam.net or ctzenben@ite.net.