by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Bill 513 was vetoed by Acting Governor Ray Tenorio. The legislation was introduced and passed in two weeks time. Although the Attorney General's Office requested more time to review the legislation it was passed straight down party lines. An independent actuary also believed the bill would drive up costs for government employees and retirees.

Governor Calvo's chief policy advisor Arthur Clark said, "And all of that was ignored and as a result, their legal opinion which came out after the fact, points out the legal deficiencies with the bill which they would have pointed out before hand which I think certainly should have been brought to the floor for full consideration by the legislature before they acted on his bill one of those deficiencies being the affect that the existing procurement process and the appeals has on the ability to even move forward with this Bill 1047 essentially until that's resolved, this bill is illegal, it's unenforceable."

Chief Deputy Attorney General Phil Tydingco met with Senator Pangelinan hours before the Democrats passed the bill in session expressing his concerns about the impact the bill would have on a an appeal filed involving the FY13 health insurance RFP. Two days after the democrats passed the bill Tydingco felt compelled to express his concerns in writing and sent a letter to island lawmakers.