Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero appeared virtually today at a House subcommittee hearing on the Fiscal year 2023 budget for the Department of Interior.

In brief remarks, she raised two now-familiar issues that Guam’s been asking Congress to address. First was funding for a much-needed new Guam Memorial Hospital, which she said is on the verge of structural failure.

"Last year the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better act which included an allocation of at least $347 million for Guam’s new public hospital," she said. "While the act has not passed the senate, I request that Guam’s allocation for capital improvement funding be increased in order to provide the financial backing necessary to fund this project."

The US Army corps of engineers estimated will cost about $743 million to replace GMH.

Meanwhile, the governor also requested an increase in compact impact discretionary funds, citing the unreimbursed costs on Guam’s infrastructure and social services for hosting COFA migrants.

"In 2020...Guam reported that $1.2 billion in total impact over the last 14 years," she said. "The report also stated that Guam was only provided $259.7-million in compact impact grants to defray costs due to the residents of compact migrants. This means that Guam only received about 20-percent of the funds owed to it by the federal government."

The federal government allocates $30 million a year in compact impact funding which Guam must share with other jurisdictions, such as Hawaii.