The Leon Guerrero administration has been accused of playing politics by delaying the payout of American Rescue Plan Act money as close to the 2022 election year as it can. KUAM News caught-up with Acting Governor Josh Tenorio, who rejected Republican innuendo, saying that's actually the federal government's intent for the funding.

"If they were to take a look at the instructions, these funds are meant to be used over multiple years. and I think that that's the way to go," asserted Tenorio. "And I just say this, that clearly based on all of their examples of fiscal leadership I think we've demonstrated to the people of Guam that we are very good custodians of the fiscal resources and our pledge is to make sure that they go to the right places. Make sure we stabize the island and stabilize the economy."

But why not take a calculated risk that when the final spending guidance is released that providing direct assistance to needy residents will be allowed.

"I think taking a leap of faith is basically going to create a liability, perhaps by the government of Guam. I don't think the general fund can afford to pay back lots of federal funds if we determine there are classes of people that may not be eligible for the payments. So that's why I think that's why we're being very careful and very deliberate about making sure we can stand behind payments that are fully legal and fully justified," he said.

Tenorio says the administration will do what it can to ensure a smooth process once the RISE applications are ready.