$36.7M omnibus spending in supplemental budget bill

Senators have another $36.7 million to spend in fiscal 2024 excess revenues over projections, according to Bill 355-37 that appropriations chair Sen. Joe San Agustin introduced Friday.

San Agustin pledged during the fiscal 2025 budget bill deliberations in August that he would draft a “supplemental budget bill” that would include all of the spending amendments that senators were not able to discuss after the “miscellaneous appropriations” section of the budget bill was deleted. During the budget session, Sen. Chris Dueñas successfully moved to delete that section, Chapter 11, arguing that there were some $100 million in proposed miscellaneous appropriations, and only about $27 million in projected 2024 excess revenues at that time.



“Mr. Chairman, as far as I’m concerned right now, this is gonna be funny money that we’re attempting to appropriate,” Dueñas had said. San Agustin’s office said Tuesday that the $36.

7 million identified in Bill 355-37 is the updated excess revenue from the August consolidated revenue and expenditure report to be released by the Bureau of Budget and Management Research. The omnibus spending bill contains 21 appropriations for various purposes to multiple agencies. One of the big-ticket items is $10 million to the Guam Department of Education for school maintenance and repair.

Education chairman Sen. Chris Barnett had attempted to increase the 2025 budget bill appropriation to GDOE, but San Agustin said GDOE had almost $28 million in lapsed funds, or funds that were previously appropriated that haven’t been spent in the period intended. “Why do you have $28 million left, and you’re asking for more money?” San Agustin had said.

Barnett successfully added an amendment to the budget bill to authorize GDOE to spend any lapsed funds. “We were prevented from addressing critical areas with appropriations during the budget process and told to instead wait for a supplemental budget bill, so it’s puzzling that this bill still falls short when it comes to improvements our people need and deserve,” Barnett said on Tuesday. Other education-related appropriations in Bill 355-37 include $4 million to the University of Guam for capital improvement projects, repairs and maintenance; $2.

8 million for the Guam Academy Charter Schools Council to fund 360 new student enrollments at four different charter schools; and $1.9 million for Guam Community College for fiscal 2024 and 2025 scholarship funding. The bill would also appropriate $4.

7 million to the Department of Administration to continue covering credit card fee waivers for payments to GovGuam that were first waived during the COVID pandemic. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero authorized the use of $31 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to pay for the credit card convenience fees.

The federal funding is set to end on Oct. 1. DOA would also receive an appropriation of $1.

5 million to cover $200 annual cost-of-living increases for GovGuam retirees. Bill 355-37 also seeks to appropriate $2 million to the Guam Police Department for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning of its Forensic Lab. The governor had urged funding of the forensic lab HVAC in her message to the Legislature in signing the 2025 budget bill.

The governor was also critical of “more than $1 million in cuts” for GPD, Guam Fire Department and Department of Corrections recruitment and training. San Agustin’s new bill would appropriate $1.4 million for fiscal 2025 training cycles for 20 new police officers, 20 firefighters and 20 corrections officers.

GPD would also receive $1.5 million for school resource officers that Chief Stephen Ignacio can assign to GDOE campuses. The administration has also criticized the deletion of a $1.

06 million appropriation to the Office of Homelessness and Poverty Prevention, which was created under the governor’s office using ARP funds. The $1.06 million would be reinstated under the supplemental budget bill.

Also included in Bill 355-37 is a $2 million appropriation for the Guam Cancer Trust Fund, and $1 million to the Guam Housing Corp.’s Housing Trust Fund for rental and utility assistance. Some of the appropriations, such as for the cancer trust fund, are also contained in separate bills introduced by other senators after the budget bill was passed.

San Agustin’s office said a public hearing on Bill 355-37 has not yet been scheduled, but will be soon..