From left, Special Assistant for Management and Budget Vicky Villagomez, Gov. Arnold Palacios, Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang and Finance Secretary Tracy Norita during a press conference at the governor’s office Thursday.
“WE’RE not out of the woods yet,” Gov. Arnold I. Palacios said Thursday after announcing the lifting of austerity measures that were put in place in April 2023 to reduce executive branch employees’ work hours to 70 hours.
Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang told reporters that they have issued Executive Directive 2025-002, restoring the executive branch employees’ work hours to 80 hours per pay period.
“Are we out of the woods? No, we’re not,” Palacios said. “The lt. governor and I, with the understanding of the Legislature, will continue to revisit a revised budget in the very near future, to sustain this fiscal year and into the next fiscal year,” he added.
In a directive last week, he instructed departments, offices and activities of the executive branch to continue the cost-containment measures that were implemented in the previous fiscal year.
Asked about the timing of his latest directive — Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 5 — Palacios said, “I know there are going to be critics out there…[but] to me personally, that does not matter. We’ve been working very hard to get our 700 employees and their families to 80 hours regardless of whether tomorrow is the election or next year. We have been working at this for six months…. Other people might say this is a political ploy. No, it isn’t.”
“I’m not in this for politics,” Palacios said. “I am committed…to provide for those 700 employees that remain in austerity and to make them whole and their families. I think [after] close to 18 months of sacrifices — if I can do it on election day, I will do it. Obviously, if I am doing this and thinking of the election, I would have done this the first of October. Some would have probably cast their ballots [already] and it wouldn’t even matter,” Palacios added. The early voting period started on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
Joining Palacio and Apatang in the press conference were Finance Secretary Tracy Norita, Special Assistant for Management and Budget Vicky Villagomez, House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, House Floor Leader Edwin Propst, Rep. John Paul Sablan and Rep. Roman Benavente.
Also present were Tina Sablan, the special assistant for climate policy and planning, and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Edward C. Camacho, the new special assistant for military affairs and head of the Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs.
Good news
Apatang said “this is good news for the employees in the government who have been waiting anxiously…. We’ve been working hard to get our balances back together in this government since we first came into office.”
“You guys know very well that we were struggling in the beginning,” he added. “Believe me, between our advisors and the Legislature working together. that is how we succeeded in making this possible today. We are very happy to inform our employees that they are getting back their regular 80 hours that they have been waiting for.”
Finance Secretary Tracy Norita said it has been a “tough 18 months of cost containment.”
“These were painful cuts that had to be made in order to stabilize government revenue and control of expenditures, and this administration has been working together, working for months to find solutions to alleviate the hardship that has been placed on these employees…affected by the austerity. We know that [while making] these very hard financial decisions, we cannot ever forget the impact that it has on the people—the human element—when we are engaged in financial decisions,” Norita said.
“We are in the final stages of executing some agreements that will directly impact our debt service obligations and, because of this, we were allowed to redirect funds to restore hours for these employees. We anticipate finalizing and executing these funding instruments, hopefully the timeline is by the end of next week,” she added.
Official statement
In a statement, the governor’s office stated that beginning on Nov. 3, 2024 (Pay Period #25), the austerity work hour reduction will be lifted, and hours will be restored to 80 hours for all affected employees.
Executive branch department and agency heads may inform their employees that reduced hours will end on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.
“Recent developments have assured us that we can move forward with restoring employee work hours, and the budgetary impact of doing so can be addressed under the current provisions of the FY 2025 Budget Act, which allows for 100% reprogramming authority,” Governor Palacios said.
He reminded all employees that “we are all public servants entrusted to deliver the needs of the community as a whole, and as such, we must continue to work diligently to improve services to the public and contribute in the overall effort to control expenditures.”
His directive instructed all department and activity heads to review their fund balances for the remainder of the fiscal year to confirm the availability of funds and identify any potential shortfall to cover the cost of the increase in work hours of current active employees.
This information should be made available to the Office of Management and Budget no later than Nov. 1, 2024, Palacios said.
According to the governor’s office, “Given that the Appropriations Act (P.L. 23-26) did not provide the funds to pay for the restored hours,” the governor said he and the lt. governor “will be working closely with the Office of Management & Budget and the Department of Finance to prepare a proposed amendment to Public Law 23-26 that will be submitted to the Legislature.”
Palacios and Apatang “reiterated their appreciation to all employees for their patience and their commitment to providing quality government programs and services despite reduced hours in the last two years.”
