Legislature’s most-traveled senator takes junket amid school crisis

The Guam Legislature’s top traveler, Telo Taitague, took a taxpayer-funded trip to Palau last week as several of her colleagues, hundreds of GovGuam employees, and scores of volunteers from the private sector chose instead to help public schools through its reopening crisis.

Ms. Taitague left to Palau on August 9 and returned to Guam August 14. She attended a meeting of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures, the same junket another APIL member – Tina Muna Barnes – canceled so she could assist public schools in their readiness efforts.

According to APIL president Nelson Stephen, the APIL meeting in Palau was focused on “Human Development in Oceania: How can legislatures strengthen people-centered security for the Pacific Islanders? The state of and future perspective on food security, economic security, cyber security, and other indicators of human development.”

The general assembly occurred between August 12 and 17, which means Ms. Taitague spent three days in Palau without a public purpose, and left the island having only participated in half the junket’s public purpose.

The Republican minority senator is the legislature’s most traveled member. This would be her eighth government-funded trip. The trip she took previous to this one so she could attend FestPAC in Hawaii cost taxpayers more than $5,000. Kandit is requesting the details of the Palau trip from the legislature’s central operations.

Taitague’s seven prior trips this term

Prior to the Palau trip, Ms. Taitague had already spent $18,248.14 of your money in airfare and per diem. According to her filed boarding passes, Ms. Taitague several times flew business class, and at least once flew first class. None of the other senators and mayors whose travel we scrutinized traveled at premium class rates.

The majority of the trips were funded using the Guam Legislature’s budget. Ms. Taitague, however, is a member of the legislative minority, which means she has a significantly shorter list of responsibilities than her colleagues in the democratic majority who have committee assignments. Nevertheless, the legislative rules committee approved her use of public funds to fly to San Diego to present a legislative resolution to the 2023 Chamorro Culture Festival at a total cost of $3,639.12.

According to the public records, the legislature funded her travel to Yap to attend a board meeting of the APIL. That meeting cost taxpayers $2,506.09.

Her trip to Taiwan was paid for by a third party, but her per diem cost taxpayers $772.20.

The minority senator even spent $2,859.39 attending the 52nd Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union General Assembly in Japan together with Speaker Therese Terlaje, who spent $3,799.10 attending the same assembly. This union, according to its website, advances solutions to combat poverty IN ASIA.

Guam Visitors Bureau also used thousands in public funds to contribute to Ms. Taitague’s global travels. She attended a New Year’s appreciation reception for the GVB Japan office staff that cost you $3,132.09, then hopped along with many public officials to the launch of the Haneda-Guam flight service at a travel total of $2,872.34 for her alone.

She also spent $5,242.80 of your money to attend FestPAC in Hawaii this year. She was one of three senators who used public funds to pay for their participation at FestPAC.