by Michele Catahay

Guam - Senator Ben Pangelinan was at the Hyatt speaking before the Association of Government Accountants on the state of the Government of Guam finances as well as possible solutions to the cash shortfalls. The committee chair on appropriations criticized the Calvo Administration, saying the government's financial problems aren't as bad as they're making it seem.

"I don't think we should be pulling the panic button at this time, but we should face the realities that we see and find a way to deal with them," he explained.

Senator Pangelinan says the only three unfunded obligations he can think of that could contribute to the shortfall would be the $21 million needed for GovGuam's Health Insurance Plan, the $12 million for Mental Health's amended permanent injunction and an additional $2 million that went to pay out annual leave to outgoing unclassified employees from the previous administration.

In terms of what Pangelinan's solutions to deal with the budget shortfalls he believes the government should stick with the deficit reduction strategy contained in the current budget and be more efficient in collecting taxes.