GOOD morning my fellow Guamanians.

Our Republican colleagues in the Legislature made a lot of sense out of the sugary budget process we've been treated to last week by the budget chairman: There's a $100 million gap for tax refunds. I want to thank Sens. Frank Blas, Aline Yamashita, Tony Ada, Chris Duenas, Sam Mabini, and Mana Silva Taijeron for pointing this out.

Gov. Eddie Calvo and I have been trying to explain our fiscal situation to the legislative budget chairman since our first week in office. We've said over and over that the government can't afford its bills. Last year the government owed taxpayers more than $300 million in tax refunds. We paid millions in refunds even before the first bond in December. So far, we've paid out close to $350 million in tax refunds in this fiscal year alone. There's a few million left to pay, but today we're so much closer to where we need to be because of this administration's commitment to pay tax refunds.

The bond we originally asked for was to pay for all past-due refunds and to pay all of the Tax Year 2011 refunds. We asked for this bond so that come this past January, all the money from the Provision for Tax Refunds in the budget could go toward next year's refunds. We would basically put money away every day into a savings account so that when you file your taxes next year, the money is available right away to pay your refunds. This is what the law says we are supposed to do. Until this past summer, no governor has ever followed this law. No money was ever deposited into that savings account until Gov. Calvo saved up $33 million by June this year.

Unfortunately, the budget chairman didn't agree with our original plan. He didn't give us the authority to pay all the past-due – and Tax Year 2011 – refunds. So, we've been cutting spending as much as we can to pay out the remainder of the 2011 refunds. After this month there should be about $15 million left to pay. The problem is, no money has been saved up for next year's refunds. This is what the law requires.

So the question my Republican colleagues in the Legislature raised is very valid – where will the other $100 million come from?

I feel like we've come full circle since we've been raising this issue last year. We're at a day of reckoning where the cash crisis has finally caught up with the budget process, just as a federal court prepares an order compelling GovGuam to do what Gov. Calvo has been trying to do since January last year.

It's very clear to me where that $100 million will come from and how that gap will be filled. The governor has allotment control authority and he's not afraid to use it. He's also sent a spending cuts bill to the Legislature. Our Republican colleagues want to replace some of those spending cuts with revenue enhancements, which is fine so long as the bottom line remains the same.

The solution to the problem is right in front of us. I ask the legislative leadership to follow the example of my Republican colleagues and work collaboratively toward a solution to this $100 million problem.

Thank you and have a great day.