SENATORS went into the committee of the whole yesterday to discuss Bill 437, which would authorize lease financing for the rehabilitation, construction, expansion and renovation of public school facilities.
Present to provide testimony was Guam Department of Education interim Superintendent Taling Taitano; Guam Economic Development Authority Administrator Karl Pangelinan; and Governor’s Special Assistant for Economic Affairs Henry Taitano. Also present was Assistant Attorney General Pat Mason.
At issue is about $139 million that is needed to overhaul Guam’s public schools.
Taitano informed the senators that if the safety of the classrooms is a priority for GDOE, then they would want to work with the department to identify funding.
“As for the actual amount and the figure that we’re looking at, that’s really going to come from the discussions we’ve had with the agency on what the financial need is,” Taitano said. “We will work with them and we do think we have a financial vehicle to make it happen.”
Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz questioned where the money is going to come from and if it is still the position of the administration that whatever the amount is going to be, “it will be taken off the hide of GDOE.”
During the committee of the whole, Speaker Judi Won Pat also pointed out that GDOE’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year will have a shortfall because the governor’s submitted GDOE budget is lower.
Another matter that concerns Won Pat is language in the bill that makes it difficult to have what she called a “level playing field” for contractors wanting to put in a bid for public school upgrades.
Discussion on the bill continues today at 10 a.m. when the senators return to committee of the whole.
