The legislature will go into the budget session next week, and by law has until the end of the month to submit a spending plan to the governor.

Guam Customs and Quarantine is one of the last few agencies to appear for their budget hearing today. Money and manpower were the focus.

Customs and Quarantine is in charge of protecting Guam's borders. No person or product comes in without the oversight of CQA.

Agency leaders presented their Fiscal Year 2024 budget to lawmakers. One of the first questions they asked about is rent. It pays some $1.7 million each year to the Guam airport.

And appropriations chairman Joe San Agustin is one of several senators who continue to question that.

"That kind of bothers me that almost $2 million in rent money, gosh you could be like one of the schools," he said.
"We spend $5.7 on leased schools, four schools, and you're $2. You could have your own building in less than 10 years. Pot fabot director and staff of customs, look at it, focus on it, tell the airport to not charge you, because you have an obligation by law to inspect everybody coming in. You don't have an obligation to pay for rent."

CQA also conducts inspections at the port, but only pays a common area fee.

Even that should be waived, San Agustin said.

Manpower is also an issue. Recruitment is not the problem, it's retention. Officers are constantly leaving for more lucrative federal law enforcement positions, or for the military.

Customs Director Ike Peredo says the Department of Administration denied the proposed retention incentive pay.

So he took to promoting as a way to encourage them to stay: "The promotions were from officer 2, officer 3, up to the supervisors. And the reason why I went full force on that is I had a lot of officer 1's that have been with the agency for over twenty years. never been promoted. and in order for me to try and retain them, I need to provide some sort of incentive for them to stay, and that's what we did."

The customs agency is asking for a budget of $19.4 million -- about $14.7 million is for salaries.