Senators pitch ideas to help with bus crisis

by Krystal Paco

Guam - On Tuesday we brought you the story on the Department of Public Works' disappointment at not receiving $2.8 million in Compact impact money from the Department of the Interior. But today, it looks like things are looking up as senators are pitching their ideas to help cope with the school bus crisis.

Yesterday there were 106 operational school busses. As of today, that number is back up to 108. While DPW's nine mechanics hustle to get the fleet up and running for the upcoming school year, Senator Chris Duenas has introduced the Bucks for Busses Act of 2012, an act to take money from the senators' paychecks and into the agency that transports 39,000 of the island's schoolchildren.

"What this bill does is it undoes the pay raise that the Guam Legislature enacted through the 29th Guam Legislature," he said.

It was Monday's public hearing on the Department of Education's $294 million budget request that prompted Duenas to introduce such legislation. "This is a real crisis and everyone needs to step up to the plate and put their money on the table," he said.

If passed into law, senators would see a reduction of close to $6,000 from their salary. "My present salary is $60,800, and so it would go down to $55,308 - so we're looking at right around $6,000," he said.

The $120,000 from "Bucks for Busses" could assist with the $150,000 estimated to lease busses and pay bus driver overtime to accommodate double session at George Washington High School for the first quarter. For years after, it can be used to purchase or lease busses or maintain the aging fleet.

Meanwhile, Senator Aline Yamashita is recommending that we not only address our school bus situation, but all of Mass Transit. "I just think we need to be really smart and we need to come together," she noted. "We're spending millions here, millions there, millions everywhere when we could consolidate work with our transportation experts we have them on our island. What this could look like? Plan it out. I think if we invest the money so that every single bus service is accessible timely and efficient 0126 it would be good for our families."

Senator Duenas is requesting from Speaker Judi Won Pat to waive the need for public hearings for the bucks for buses bill, so it can be heard in session as early as next week.