by Mindy Aguon

Guam - It may have been a unanimous vote to pass the substitute budget bill for Fiscal Year 2013, but evidently it's $100 million: that's the message Republican lawmakers sent to the acting governor and Finance Committee chair Senator Ben Pangelinan. The members of the GOP say that the budget bill that was passed doesn't cover what is needed to pay out tax year 2013 tax refunds. The lawmakers state that the provisions allotted for tax refunds would only go to pay the remainder of Tax Years 2011 and 2012 refunds, leaving a $100 million gap in the budget.

The senators mention the recent District Court decision to impose a permanent injunction on the government to pay out tax refunds in a timely and fair manner. Republican lawmakers say this makes the set asides into the reserve fund for Tax Year 2013 even more critical.

As a solution, they have asked that a bi-partisan group of senators begin reviewing the Omnibus Fiscal Reform Act of 2012. While lawmakers have concerns about some of the governor's proposed spending cuts, they have suggested looking at prospective revenue enhancements from implementing mental health's fee schedule, factoring of the two percent reserve, the governor's future ability to reserve further allotments government-wide as well as pursuing correction of the earned income tax credit reimbursement inequity.

The bottom line is that the Republicans say the Guam Legislature needs to find an additional $100 million to put into the reserve fund next year to ensure the money is available to pay out 2013 tax refunds.