by Lannie Walker

Guam - Lawmakers meet this evening with Neville Kenning, Vice President of The Hay Group, a company contracted to conduct a study on the pay rate of Government of Guam workers. The results of the first part of the study were presented in April.

The organization recommended pay raises across-the-board for public sector staffers based on the fact Guam's government is one of the lowest paying governments in all of the United States and its territories. A second portion dealing with compensation for positions including governor and lieutenant governor were expected to be discussed today, but Kenning tells KUAM News he meet with senators and staff from the Department of Administration to discuss issues relating to how the recommendations will be administered and the role a Civil Service Commission will have in that effort.

Present in the meeting were Speaker Judi Won Pat, senators B.J. Cruz and Ben Pangelinan and DOA Human Resources Administrator Cecilia Martinez. Neville says during his time on Guam he will also meet with autonomous agencies that have enacted pay raises in the past to see if they might be able to integrate the pay plans with that of GovGuam's.

According to Kenning, the portion of the study relating to the pay of the governor and lieutenant governor is delayed in its release due to questions of what other positions may be included in this pay scale. Kenning say this section of the study will be released in the next few weeks and says he will return to Guam next month.