Guam -Rules Committee Chair Senator Rory Respicio says that he is “carefully optimistic” about Governor Eddie Calvo’s third budget proposal.
Senators convened in Special Session this morning shortly after 8 am to consider this latest budget from the Governor. They immediately recessed for 3 hours to review the Governor’s budget plan.
However Senator Respicio blamed the “Governor’s intransigence” for the current budget stalemate saying ” He is the one who said ‘I will not compromise.’”
The Governor’s new budget still calls for a $343 million dollar bond, but issued in 2 parts, over time.
Respicio takes that to be a concession to concerns raised by Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz who has warned that the budget cutting process in Washington may lead to serious cuts in Guam’s federal funding which could impede GovGuam’s ability to pay back the bond borrowing.
READ Senator Respicio’s release in FULL below:
September 6, 2011, 8:30AM
For Immediate Release
SESSION UPDATE
Legislature in Second Special Session
(Hagåtña, Guam) – Majority Leader and Rules Committee Chair Senator Rory J. Respicio reports that the Legislature went into Special Session
this morning at the call of I Maga’lahen Guåhan to address his third budget bill, Bill No. 1(2‐S), the latest version of the government
budget for Fiscal Year 2012.
“I’m carefully optimistic about the Governor’s new proposal,” Respicio said. “Earlier in this process he announced that he was done
compromising. But Chief Deputy Attorney General Phil Tydingco, in his Information and Guidance Memorandum last week, wrote: “If the
Legislature is unable to revise or enact a vetoed bill via legislative override, the government shuts down until the two branches work out a
compromise.”
Respicio noted that the Legislature is ready to work with the Governor. “It’s the Governor’s intransigence that has placed us in
this predicament; he is the one who said ‘I will not compromise.’ By acknowledging Vice Speaker Cruz’s concerns, the Governor recognizes
that a compromise is necessary, and that the upcoming fiscal actions of the Congress could present enormous challenges to Guam.”
Respicio moved for a recess until 11:00 AM to give time for senators to review this new proposal. There being no objections, his motion
carried. The Legislature remains in recess until 11:00 AM today, Tuesday, September 6, 2011. The public can tune in on MCV Channel 13
or GUdTV Channel 21.
