by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Just because Governor Eddie Calvo signed the government's Fiscal Year 2013 budget into law, it doesn't mean the battle over the budget is over.

The island's chief executive signed the Substitute Fiscal Year 2013 budget bill into law, but did so with reservations, saying the measure doesn't offer a balanced budget. "This is what got us to problems in the past," Calvo noted.

While some of his issues in the budget are minor, he says it all comes down to simple math. In his transmittal letter to lawmakers, Governor Calvo states the substituted budget over appropriates approximately $1.4 million over the adopted revenue level. He further criticized the Guam Legislature for not providing solutions on how to address the $145 million for refunds due in FY2013.

"But it's a sign of sloppiness in the budget-making process," he continued, "and it's something that we had to bring up and feel its important as you move forward we got to be a little tighter in discipline in how budgets are created."

Committee on Appropriations and Taxation chairman Senator Ben Pangelinan refutes those claims, saying the budget is in fact balanced saying he's confident in the work of the Office of Finance & Budget and that of the committee in passing a budget that does not approve expenditures, which exceeds the adopted revenues for FY2013. He added that they would be happy to share their analysis with the governor's financial team. "It is unbalanced and we'd be happy to show him," he said.

Calvo adds he's hopeful the two can work together toward reducing the deficit and getting tax refunds out in time. However for Calvo, it all comes down to his Omnibus Fiscal Reform Bill, which if enacted has the potential to curb government spending on payroll and current payroll entitlements upward of $70 million annually. The bill was submitted to lawmakers on August 21.

"The spending cuts bill is now in their ballpark, and if they could move forward in that spending cuts bill then we can find some sizeable reductions in spending in operational appropriations and use that to make up for this gap," he said.

The bill currently sits with Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz's Committee on Government Operations and awaits a public hearing. Cruz has since requested from the Governor's Office the data driving these ideas, saying without it senators can't give the measure the thoughtful deliberation it deserves.

Governor Calvo says to date, he has only received one senatorial request for additional information as well as forecasts and models the administration used to determine the project savings. He however thinks it ironic that such information is being requested when lawmakers didn't require so much information when it decided to increase survivor benefits by 20% and would cost GovGuam an additional $64 million annually.

He told KUAM News, "So it's kind of interesting that you pick and choose on certain areas where there's a big impact of costs going up without even a public hearing on it and now all of a sudden need spreadsheets and details, but we'll provide that information."

Cruz just returned from the Democratic National Convention yesterday and has yet to return our calls. According to his office, public hearings are being scheduled to address the spending cuts bill.

GOVERNOR CALVO'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER