HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — An attempt to give the University of Guam $3.6 million to raise faculty salaries led to fierce debate among lawmakers Friday during talks on the next budget.
Contention stemmed from the proposed funding source: the Rainy Day Fund created in fiscal year 2022 – a source meant to be used stave off a government of Guam deficit or pay vendors in the event of sudden government cash shortage or emergencies.
Vice Speaker Tina Muña Barnes, who submitted the amendment, said faculty salaries at the island’s university haven’t been adjusted since 1991.
“I want to note that it is clear that this salary schedule is outdated and it has not been able to account for recent major inflation adjustments,” Barnes told her colleagues. “UOG continues to see its faculty leave for better opportunities with higher salaries within the government of Guam and in other higher education institutions nationwide.”
The money would fund a 20% salary adjustment already signed off on by the UOG board of regents, she said, adding the institution brought in about $44 million worth of grants to Guam in 2021 alone.
Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas threw in support for the measure, noting that much of his family had attended UOG and “this is a very, very important institution. It’s like a synagogue or a church. It’s very sacred to me.”
Sen. Telo Taitague objected, however, saying the proposal wasn’t in line with the intended use of the Rainy Day Fund. She pointed to the $30 million Guam Memorial Hospital still owes its vendors.
“This body is going to start treating the Rainy Day Fund as funding for increased salaries. … That’s not what the purpose of a rainy day fund is,” Taitague said. “We just had a major typhoon. And it’s anticipated that another one might pop up soon. … We don’t have that $50 million right now to bail us out again on another typhoon if it should hit us, or another pandemic.”
Taitague during last year’s budget talks led the charge to put $10.6 million worth of money from the Rainy Day Fund into village road repairs, just weeks before the 2022 primary election.
Sen. Joanne Brown joined Taitague’s objection, stating that government vendors were going unpaid.
“I don’t object to the intention of this, but I object to the source of it. And if this is now going to be the reason we’re going to raid that, too, till there’s nothing, then what are we going to tell the people of Guam?” Brown asked.
Office of Finance and Budget Director Stephen Guerrero told lawmakers that only about $15 million out of $28 million put into the Rainy Day Fund last fiscal year was available because lawmakers used it for other appropriations. It was unclear during debate whether a $15 million set-aside for fiscal 2023 would be immediately available. Also unclear was the actual balance of the account.
Speaker Therese Terlaje tried to further amend Barnes’ proposal so it wouldn’t specifically be meant for pay raises, but any purpose decided on by UOG, which came up $24.5 million short of its budget request for fiscal 2024.
“Make UOG do what it has been doing all these years and make it decide whether it’s going to prioritize faculty raises over scholarships, prioritize faculty raises over free textbooks, prioritize faculty raises over tuition increases,” Terlaje said.
Appropriations Chair Sen. Joe San Agustin backed Terlaje’s amendment to the amendment, but said he wanted to nail down a final figure of how much was actually in the Rainy Day Fund.
‘What has happened before will happen again’
Terlaje’s proposed change didn’t satisfy senators who objected to using the account for pay raises. Republican Minority Leader Sen. Frank Blas Jr. said lawmakers had to stand by their principles.
“We created (the Rainy Day Fund) in the days when it ‘rained’ a lot,” he said. “We created it in the days when we didn’t know where we’re going to get money to be able to make payroll. We created it in the days when there were difficulties in revenue projections. And those days are going to come again. … What has happened before will happen again. And if we don’t learn from the first time it happens, nor the second time, shame on us when it happens.”
The Republican caucus consistently has been wary of the historically high GovGuam budget over the last several years of budget talks.
Lawmakers continued to discuss the matter Friday afternoon.
Senators review documents during a recess of their ongoing budget session Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña.
