by Isa Baza

Guam - In the final session of the 32nd Guam Legislature, lawmakers shot down controversial Bill 436. As this legislative term comes to a close, senators held their final legislative session today to discuss the bill, a measure that would revoke the pay raises senators approved for themselves in November.

Based on advice from legal counsel, on the floor today Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. introduced a substituted version to clarify language in the original version. The language would clarify that senator pay would be returned to their original salary prior to the raises. Without the clarification Senator Aguon said it would mean their pay would be zero. The substitute version however was rejected as was an amendment to include the language in the original version.

"My intent was to extract senators from the competitive wage structure and not apply the pay raises moving forward, unfortunately I think that this legislation is already a failure and not to get the support of members of this body," he explained.

Senator Tommy Morrison commented on Bill 436 by responding to questions posed during the public hearing Monday. He said government-wide pay raises had been coming for over a decade now. He also said that although the raises make Guam senators some of the highest paid senators in the United States, when compared to other US territories such as the Virgin Islands, they are on the same pay scale. He also said that after the implementation of raises for so many others throughout the government, it was finally time for senators to lead by example,

"So once again," he stated, "this is not about a pay raise speaker, but rather about truly modernizing this government's unified pay scale after 20 years of neglect."

Senator Michael San Nicolas however, said that he was troubled by the recent raises. As leaders, he feels that backpay and special pay that has gone unpaid paid to other Government of Guam employees should be paid first, and that the law for raises for the governor, lieutenant governor, the legislature as well as political appointees should be repealed. "I have an issue with 436, an issue that was shared by a lot of the people that testified that day, and that issue is that this bill does do something, it doesn't do enough," he said.

The vote on Bill 436 was 10-3 and one excused absence.

The three senators that voted yes to the bill included Aguon, San Nicolas and Senator Michael Limtiaco. Senator Brant McCreadie was absent.