By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Felix P. Camacho will “take action” on the revised budget bill today amid a growing clamor for him to veto the legislation.
“The bill is still under review but the governor will take action on it (Friday),” Troy Torres, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said yesterday.
It wasn’t clear if the governor will sign or veto Bill 74, which revises the 2007 budget at $471 million. The bill raises government revenues by increasing permit, license and service fees, implementing property tax amnesty, and lifting some tax exemptions.
The Committee to Keep Guam Working, a coalition of private sector workers organizations, yesterday joined the Guam Federation of Teachers, the Guam Chamber of Commerce, and the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association in their bid for the governor to veto the budget bill.
In a letter to the governor, the coalition said Bill 74 “does not represent any real structural change” and that it contains provisions that “are regressive and compromise the private sector’s ability to expand our fragile economy at a time when we should be doing all we can to encourage entrepreneurship to create more jobs.”
“The government must facilitate growth of the private sector by focusing on basic services, not emulate or compete against it,” the coalition said.
“We are in a dangerous downward spiral that is affecting our ability to remain competitive as a destination and our reputation as a regional center for business development is at stake,” the coalition said.
The coalition, which represents 40,000 private sector employees, said its members are open to working with the administration and the Legislature “to explore any solutions that will solve our continuing fiscal crisis provided that the government first does its part to make lasting and permanent change to the way it does business.”
The Legislature passed Bill 74 despite concerns raised by business and community representatives who, during the de facto public hearing on the legislation, opposed the fee increases and criticized the senators’ refusal to implement a furlough in government.
Chamber of Commerce chairman Stephen C. Ruder earlier sought the veto of Bill 74, saying it does not address the need to streamline the government to bring costs in line with a reduced revenue stream.
GFT president Matt Rector also asked the governor to reject the bill, which he said threatens to jeopardize public service.
“With massive cuts to already under funded, understaffed and overstretched public services, we will not only be leaving the most vulnerable of our people behind but we will also be endangering the health and safety of all of our families,” Rector said in an earlier press statement.