HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Democrat and Republican lawmakers on Thursday came down on different sides of the $1.1 billion budget act that passed the night before.
For the second year in a row, lawmakers passed a budget with a split vote of 9 to 6, with this year’s vote split entirely along party lines. Democrats say the budget puts “people over politics” while Republicans argue there was a rush to spend potential extra cash on “pet projects.”
This is the first notable time since the start of the 37th Guam Legislature that the Democrat majority caucus has come together against Republican opposition. The bipartisan coalition that kept Democrat Speaker Therese Terlaje as the head of the Legislature has been on the same page as far as providing a check on Adelup’s power but differed on spending issues through this year’s budget talks.
Democrats issued a joint statement on the budget shortly after it passed.
“Democrats in the Legislature prioritized people over politics to pass a $1,168,897,818 budget for the government’s new fiscal year,” the caucus stated, describing the Republicans as “closing ranks” to oppose allocations in the budget that “prioritize the island’s most critical needs, including public safety, education and health care.”
The statement touts funding to the Guam Department of Education, Guam Police Department, Guam Fire Department, Department of Public Health and Social Services, and Guam Memorial Hospital.
“Working closely with Budget Committee Chairman Joe S. San Agustin, the leadership team of Speaker Therese Terlaje, Vice Speaker Tina Muña Barnes, and majority leader Amanda Shelton prioritized a spending plan that gives the governor $60 (million) in transfer authority over the next 12 months,” according to the statement.
“The leadership, along with Sen. Sabina Perez, Chris Barnett, Roy Quinata, Dwayne San Nicolas and Will Parkinson, combed through every revenue source and looked at every need to strike a budgeting balance that places people-centric policies over fear of the future,” according to the statement.
Surplus money
Republican Minority Leader Sen. Frank Blas Jr. said the budget act was “palatable” to him through most of the course of budget negotiations, “but then, in the last two days, when all the Democrats decided to show up to work” they began appropriating money from potential surplus cash that has yet to be confirmed by audit.
The Republican caucus on Wednesday proposed legislation that would have taken that surplus cash from fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 and instead put it into the $30 million in outstanding vendor payments owed by GMH as well as needed repairs at the hospital.
Blas said he’s unsure of the final tally of appropriations from unaudited funding sources during budget talks. He said he disagreed with GovGuam’s budget continuing to grow while businesses continue to face a 5% business privilege tax rate.
“Instead of giving it back to the community so that we can make more money? No, we decided we’re going to spend it. … What happened to investing into the economy so the economy can grow? We can live with 4%. We’ve done it,” Blas said.
Collections from business privilege taxes are projected to be up by about $19.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
Spending touted
Appropriations chairman and Democrat Sen. San Agustin touted the various additional spending provisions in the budget act in a statement.
“We believe that our people are the heart of our island as well as the backbone of our workforce, thus during this budget act we adopted and appropriated for the General Pay Plan, which mandates for a 22% pay increase for all government of Guam employees to ensure competitive and livable wages for our island’s people,” San Agustin said.
Additional money for the education system and cost of living allowances totaling $2,300 for government retirees were both included, he noted.
“We acknowledge the increasing need for greater support in our island’s law enforcement recruitment process. We are committed to ensuring the safety of our people, thus allocating additional resources for more recruit cycles for Guam’s law enforcement departments toward creating a safer community for our island,” San Agustin said, pointing to an extra $3.6 million for firefighter and corrections officer recruitments.
Appropriations co-chair and Republican Sen. Telo Taitague said she was concerned about what wasn’t in the budget bill – a section that “held hostage” the budget for the Office of the Governor until Adelup returned $20 million in maintenance money that was reprogrammed from GDOE’s account and put toward typhoon recovery.
Speaker Therese Terlaje opted to pull the amendment on the final day of budget talks, pointing to other controls on the administration’s spending that were inserted into the budget bill.
Taitague said she believed Democrats had cut a deal over the contentious amendment so that caucus members could continue “having a field day with whatever they wanted to spend on their pet projects.” She was also concerned with how much of the $1.1 billion budget was eaten up by the various 22% pay raises across the government of Guam.
“I think everybody should hold their breath until the end of (fiscal 2024),” she said. “Because if there is no money to cover all these expenses that are in the budget for (fiscal 2024), we’re looking at furloughs, we’re looking at cutting hours, you know, letting people go, because we just can’t afford it.”
Comparisons
Here’s how the three big portions of the fiscal 2024 budget compare to the budget for fiscal 2023:
• Business, individual, and federal reimbursements for tax entitlements in the general fund went from $809 million to $909 million.
• Taxes and fees collected for specific purposes including tourism and road repair in various special funds went from $199.6 million to $211.4 million.
• Federal grants in aid went from $109.4 million to $145 million.
Various agencies are awaiting additional funding from fiscal 2022 surplus tax revenue, but the GovGuam-wide audit will have to be completed before those funds become available.
Without accounting for those pending funds, here’s how funding for several agencies stacks up compared to the current fiscal year:
• Guam Department of Education: $241 million, up from $231 million.
• University of Guam: $27.5 million for operations, up from $24.7 million.
• Guam Community College: $13.9 million for operations, down from $16 million.
• Guam Memorial Hospital Authority: $30.1 million, up from $22.2 million.
• Department of Public Health and Social Services, $69 million, up from $61.2 million.
• Department of Public Works: $21.3 million, up from $19.3 million.
• Guam Police Department: $46.8 million, up from $45.2 million.
• Department of Corrections: $33 million, up from $30.4 million.
• Guam Fire Department: $38 million, status quo.
• Mayors’ Council of Guam: $8.8 million, up from $7.4 million.
Sen. Jesse Lujan, left, and Speaker Therese Terlaje look over a document during continuing budget hearings Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña.
