House Passes Consolidated Appropriations Bill

by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - The Consolidated Appropriations Bill cleared the House. The measure increases Compact Impact discretionary funds for Guam. Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo fought to maintain $3 million in discretionary Compact impact funding through the Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs.

“While the Consolidated Appropriations bill for FY15 is not perfect, it does contain several important provisions for Guam and prevents another government shutdown for the remainder of this fiscal year,” said Congresswoman Bordallo. “I am pleased that the appropriators rejected the Administration's budget proposal to reduce discretionary Compact impact assistance by $1.6 million, and I worked closely with my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to increase this funding to FY14 enacted levels. I believe that OIA must continue to prioritize Compact impact and should not be redirecting already limited resources to other programs. This funding maintains FY14 Compact impact levels and is in addition to the $30 million in mandatory spending provided to the affected jurisdictions."

H.R. 83 appropriates $128,051,000 in military construction projects for Guam. The bill funds all military construction projects requested in the FY15 President's Budget for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps on Guam. It also requires the Director of the Office of Economic Adjustment to report to Congress no later than 90 days on civilian infrastructure projects on Guam to support the Marine realignment to Guam.

The bill also provides for an extension of Guam's and the CNMI exemption from national H-visa caps. Congresswoman Bordallo recently met with local stakeholders on Guam and who traveled to DC regarding the importance of extending the exemption for the next few years. H.R. 83 extends the H-visa exemption until 2019.