Bill 75-37 by Senator Joe San Agustin would appropriate $15M from the General Fund to “assist Guam’s private businesses continue in their recovery from the pandemic.”
The bill, according to a release from the Senator’s office would aid employers in keeping their “doors open and their employees employed,” through a program that would be created by the Guam Economic Development Authority (GEDA).
According to the Senator’s release, the program would be similar to the Local Employers’ Assistance Program (LEAP) that
was made in Public Law 36-65 in December 2021.
Bill 75-37, according to San-Agustin, is not intended to keep the program guidelines of the LEAP program, instead it is to ensure that the government can still assist businesses who are struggling to keep their doors open, “even after the lifting of the pandemic emergency orders.”
In addition to the proposed $15M appropriation, the Senator says that Governor Lou Leon Guerrero has committed an additional “$5M from American Rescue Plan funds” as a means to aid in the recovery efforts.
Bringing the total amount of aid to $20M.
Bill 75 is co-sponsored by Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes and fellow Democratic Senators Amanda Shelton, Dwayne San Nicolas, Roy Quinata and Will Parkinson.
