An 8 to 5 vote puts $5 million back into prison funding

On Tuesday night, lawmakers voted 8 to 5 to restore $5 million to the department of corrections’ Fiscal Year 2026 budget. 

The money had been stripped out during earlier negotiations, but senators like Chris Barnett pushed to reinstate it, calling it essential to fixing aging facilities and moving forward with a new prison. 

Department of Corrections Director Fred Bordallo, providing a statement after the favorable vote.

"On behalf of all our employees at the Department of Corrections, the healthcare medical support staff from our partnering agencies who work here, and even the inmates that are incarcerated at these facilities paying their debt back to society , and a large pretrial inmate population awaiting for their court adjudication process, our appreciation and gratitude goes out to the senators of the 38th Guam Legislature. We thank all of you for the support of Senator Barnett’s amendment that restores to our FY2026 budget the five million dollars allocated for the work to be completed aligned with the modernization act for a new Department of Corrections Prison,” said Bordallo. 

The amendment passed with support from both democrats and republican Sen. Telo Taitague. 

Opponents argued DOC already has millions in rollover funds and an 80-year master plan that’s been slow to advance.

“Sen. Shawn Gumataotao wants to meet to discuss it and I would say it would be moot. It doesn't make sense to meet with him if there is no funding for a new prison,” said Bordallo. 

Office of Finance and Budget Director Stephen Guerrero told senators the contract for modernization was canceled, which is why the money wasn’t included in the first place.

“You have close to 4 domes right now, one of them has sentenced inmates, we have the overflow of pre-trial detainees, we call them confinees they are people waiting to be adjudicated and court marshaled and they head over to Kansas...and once they are sentenced, where they serve their time,” said Bordallo. 

But lawmakers acknowledged DOC’s needs are immediate and the risks, undeniable.

“Its not a matter of if it's a matter of when. It can happen- there can be a major security breach. This last incident when one of our officers was injured when two inmates tackled him- I suspect they were testing our security response of our officers.  It really has me concerned,” added Bordallo. 

With the restored $5 million, DOC’s total fy 2026 budget now sits at $35.2 million. Bordallo says the appropriation won’t solve everything, but it’s a step toward safer, modernized facilities.

“I asked the senators to really consider very carefully what the consequences would be. I’ve been in the business for over 40 years in law enforcement, military, and corrections to know the risk and gambling something major happens like what happened in New Orleans like 11 inmates escaped and their prison is like our condition of inadequate repair  and it takes one major breach,” he said. 

The measure now moves forward in the ongoing budget session. 

For DOC, the fight continues, but for now, the $5 million lifeline is back on the table.