Attorney General Doug Moylan has rejected the federal lease for Eagles Field in Lalo' Mangilao and his main advice to the governor is to involve the legislature in the hospital planning process.

The announcement comes one day after an override attempt of two bills meant to increase legislative involvement in the billion-dollar medical campus failed.

In his letter to the governor, Moylan outlined two reasons in particular.

First, that it's not enforceable without legislative appropriation. He was specifically concerned about a provision that "binds and commits the government of Guam to make actual fair market value payments in the event the project is not completed in 10 years."

Second, he also rejects the section which allows the military to take over in the event of a national emergency. He says it means the hospital would no longer be accessible to civilians.

Moylan said for him to sign off the governor should secure legislative approval for the lease and any changes.

He also says the "takeover" provisions would need to be removed.

Speaker Therese Terlaje was quick to react to the news.

She calls it a victory for the people of Guam that they will not be bound to a long-term financial obligation that the legislature did not appropriate for.

Terlaje says the legislature and the administration "must now roll up our sleeves and do the work required for us by law...and move forward with building a new hospital with all urgency."

Late this afternoon, governor's office communications director Krystal Paco-San Agustin said they had not officially received a copy of the Moylan letter, but they would be working on a response.

Earlier in the day Adelup issued a release stating the override failure was a win for Guam and that "the people were one step closer to a state-of-the-art medical complex built in partnership with the federal government."

Following the AG's rejection of the Eagles Field lease, Adelup wrote in a release, "While we are taking care to diligently review the issues he [AG Douglas Moylan] raised, none of the issues appear to constitute actual impediments to entering the lease. We remain open to discussing these issues with the attorney general at his option. However, it is likely that a legal remedy will be necessary to effectuate the Organic Act mandate that the governor shall establish public health facilities, including hospitals, and the Supreme Court of Guam’s determination that the Legislature has no place in negotiating lease agreements, which is necessarily an executive function.

"As for those who have opposed this lease from the start, no one should celebrate the increased likelihood that we will lose Eagles Field for a second time. Tragically, the only thing delayed today is a state-of-the-art hospital we all need.Yet not a single Senator who opposed our plan has presented a solution of their own. That might be good politics but it certainly won’t make anything better for everyday people.”