Jesse Lujan said he’s still waiting for the governor or her administration to clarify where the $30 million she identified in a news release Tuesday comes from before he agrees to an amendment to his Bill No. 164-37.
The legislation is the subject of an emergency session at 2 p.m. Wednesday, where senators will consider whether to appropriate the “unappropriated” revenues stemming from Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, as audited. The problem is that the Fiscal Year 2022 audit has not yet been published; and as of September 15, the Fiscal Year 2023 audit had not yet begun, according to the Bureau of Budget and Management Research.
In a letter by Lou Leon Guerrero to Therese Terlaje, the legislative speaker, yesterday, the governor asked that senators include in their emergency session a draft bill she sent over authorizing the purchase of Barrigada property for a new hospital. In that letter she stated she will be sending Guam Memorial Hospital $20 million for its current facilities needs, and that she and Mr. Lujan agreed to amend his bill to affix a General Fund appropriation of $30 million that will pay down vendor payables at GMH.
Mr. Lujan, in a news release last night, clarified that his conversation with the governor had yet to produce a final deal, as he was still waiting for her confirmation on where the $30 million comes from. Here is the senator’s full news release:
On Tuesday, Governor Leon Guerrero sent a letter to Speaker Terlaje, asking that the 37th Guam Legislature approve the purchase of land in Barrigada for the use of a new medical complex. In her letter, she states that Senator Lujan agreed to amend Bill No.164-37(LS), and to commit $30 million in appropriations to address GMH’s outstanding vendor invoices. Prior to the island being put in COR2, an emergency session had been scheduled to address the issues plaguing the island’s only public hospital. While Bill No.164-37(LS) had yet to have a public hearing, Speaker Terlaje could place it on the session floor in times of emergencies. In light of the recent hearings highlighting the deteriorating conditions and state of the hospital, it was understood that Bill No.164-37(LS) as well as Resolution No.215-37(COR) were to be heard.
“I was glad when Governor Leon Guerrero reached out to me, wanting to work together to find viable solutions for GMH. The state of our hospital is dire and needs to be prioritized. I want to work with the administration for the benefit of our people. However, while I may be the main sponsor of Bill 164-37, this was a Republican caucus- introduced piece of legislation. I wasn’t about to make any final decisions without the consensus of my Republican colleagues.” Lujan stated.
Senator Lujan introduced Bill No.164-37(LS) earlier in August. The bill seeks to appropriate all unappropriated Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 Audited Excess funds to the Guam Memorial Hospital to clear all outstanding vendor payments and perform all necessary repairs. In conjunction with the bill, Minority Leader, Senator Frank Blas Jr. introduced Resolution No.215(COR) later in the beginning of October, which requests the Governor to declare a state of emergency to address the unsafe, unhealthy, unsanitary, and financially challenging conditions that exist there.
“Last night, Governor Leon Guerrero sent me her draft amended bill, proposing an appropriation of thirty million from the general fund to pay outstanding vendor payables of GMH. While this is a good start, I immediately had a concern with the source of funding. Especially since we just passed the budget bill for FY2024. In my correspondence with her, I asked Governor Leon Guerrero to identify where in the FY2024 budget will we appropriate her proposed thirty million?” Lujan continued.
Governor Leon Guerrero later responded to Senator Lujan’s inquiry by referring to unappropriated funds in the general fund, specifically monies collected in excess of the Fiscal Year budget.
“When Governor Leon Guerrero answered my question regarding the funding source, I stated again that Bill 164 and Resolution 215 are caucus pieces and that I will need to discuss this proposed amendment with them. She said she understood and implied that she would let me bring this amended bill back to the caucus for their consideration. However, in her letter to Speaker Terlaje, she indicates that I agreed to her amendment. This is not the case. I am more than willing to collaborate with the administration and am glad that Governor Leon Guerrero sees the urgency of restoring GMH to properly functioning and safe conditions. But once again, this is a caucus-introduced legislation, and it should be heard and debated on the session floor.” Senator Lujan concluded.
2 Comments
Jofish
10/11/2023 at 9:42 PM
Just another corrupt career politician jesse Lujan! They are all the same! Democrats and republicans!!! Govguam is nothing more than an organized crime syndicate!
Imelda Tanapino
10/13/2023 at 12:45 AM
I agree with Jofish.
What these career politicians are trying to work out now is where to find some place that is bordered by relatively cheap land that is owned by their Republican and Democrat cronies, who can then benefit by seeing their land value dramatically increase, due to its proximity to Lou’s publicly funded “MEDICAL COMPLEX”.
No one in GovGuam gives a damn about providing decent medical care – if they did, they would have done it decades ago.
The career politicians from both parties are just jockeying right now to get the highest profit for their parees.
Watch them wag their forked tongues in legislative debate and draft self-serving law after law, until they finally come to some unholy agreement on how they and their land owning parees will split the spoils.
Where ever they decide to build, watch the surrounding land values soar, and then look at which corrupt parees own that land.