Governor Lou Leon Guerrero addressed the Guam Chamber of Commerce today in what can be described as a "State of the Economy Address." She described her administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, and outlined her plans for economic recovery.

She began her speech by recapping the impact of the COVID pandemic and explaining her decision to shut down the island was for the health and safety of the people, noting, "Our numbers show that our strategy is working. We are containing the virus better than our mainland counterparts. And we are top 5 in getting vaccines into the arms of our people."

She said these are "painful and difficult times" and acknowledged that many businesses were to shut down. "You have had to look your employee in the eye and tell them they were furloughed. You had to adopt new business models, pushing your businesses outside the box because of social distancing," she stated.

The island's chief executive also outlined a series of local and federal assistance that the administration helped roll out. But one the business community has been clamoring for - a rollback in the Business Privilege Tax from 5% to 4% - she refused to budge on.

"Members of the Chamber, I am here before you today to say we have to maintain the present level of BPT. Every day I look at our government's cash report. More recent analysis by my fiscal discipline team has revealed the true impact of the Trump tax cuts to be $86 million," detailed Leon Guerrero. "Over the last three fiscal years since 2018, we've lost nearly $200 million of our normal revenue stream because of the Trump tax cuts and this godawful pandemic."

The governor says she's addressed the shortfall by reducing the budget by $67 million over the past three years, and cutting the deficit from $83 million to $47 million. But she maintains they need the tax revenue to pay for government services, as she announced, "We are in a serious crisis and it requires me as your governor to not just look at the bottom line. It requires me to continue to provide a social safety net for our people without sacrificing a person's dignity to a decent job

"Members of the Chamber, I know we don't always see eye-to-eye, but you and I share the same goal: building a better, stronger Guam."