Governor's medical complex bill causes heated debate on session floor

Session floor heated up Wednesday morning as senators debated the Governor’s Bill 184. 

The measure would allow the Ancestral Lands Commission to lease or sell 61-acres of crown lands in Barrigada for the administration’s proposed medical complex. 

While some senators questioned the location and need for a medical complex when the current one is deteriorating, Bill 184 still moved forward for voting. 

Senator Joanne Brown questioned the Governor’s vision when there’s a “total inability to effectively operate the existing hospital.”

“The record for the administration on healthcare– where are we? Where are we, my dear colleagues? Show me the success stories. Show me what’s been approved up there at the new hospital. I'm waiting, I'm looking, I'm hoping and maybe at some point I've got to start dreaming. Because I guess those of us who have different perspectives, oh we must have very small minds,” Sen. Brown expressed. 

It’s a point Health Committee chair, Speaker Therese Terlaje underscores. 

She said, “That was the mandate. That was the expectation that all the PR teams, all the management teams, and all the fiscal teams were going to focus on the current hospital and build a new hospital. There's no reason we can’t do that.”

On the flip side, an emotional plea from a father-to-be with a baby girl on the way, Senator Will Parkinson wants the Governor’s bill to pass. 

Sen. Parkinson said, “I’d like her to have a hospital. I'd like for her to have a hospital as she grows up and not be dependent on flying off island for her medical needs. I'd like everyone’s children to not have to fly off island to address their medical needs because some people can’t. Some people don’t have that privilege.”

And Senator Tom Fisher cautioned once more against the legislature’s intrusion into executive functions, saying senators are “getting way out of their lane.”

“This 37th Guam Legislature seems to have some sort of imperial streak that leads us to believe we can control every aspect of the Executive Branch. I suppose it won’t be too long before we’ll be reaching into the Judiciary. This is not our place, colleagues. it’s not our place,” Sen. Fisher expressed. 

But Senator Chris Barnett disagreed, “There's some in our body that argue that we’re stepping on the Governor’s toes. We’re stealing her authority, we’re driving outside of our lane. They argue that the Organic Act gives the Governor the authority to care for our healthcare. Unfortunately the Governor and Lt. Governor have failed in that responsibility.”

Barnett also brought talks to his proposal, Bill 185 that would mandate the new hospital be built at Ypao point in Tamuning. 

He countered the administration’s claims that the 38-acre plot is too small for a growing population. 

“I wonder which population they’re talking about because the only population that’s going to be growing is the military population,” Sen. Barnett said.

Session entered recess until early this afternoon.