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30th Guam Legislature

Nov 18

Posted by Sanjay Sharma in Bills, GDOE, Legislature, Matt Rector, News, Politics | No Comments

The 30th Guam Legislature is halfway through their term and the island nightmare of politics has begun.  Schools have closed, education has received a huge blow to their funding, people’s homes are being taken away, pay raises for only bosses were given, and new fees were put in place.  That’s right, every reason you vote a person out of office is exactly what some of these senators are doing.

November Session

Bill 95’s efforts to keep FQ Sanchez Elementary School open did not pass.  Only Frank Aguon, Judi Guthertz, Matt Rector, and Rory Respicio votes yes to keep it open.

Bill 116 authorizes the Guam Census Program to temporarily hire workers for the Decennial 2010 Census.  Only Ben Pangelinan, Matt Rector and Rory Respicio voted no. This doesn’t provide any benefits for workers as oppose to hiring them as service contracts which provides health and retirement benefits.

Bill 176 establishes additional fees for the Government of Guam to collect for Notary applications.  It was passed by a 10-5 vote.  This poses insignificant fees for the people of Guam.

Bill 177 establishes additional fees for clearances with the Attorney General’s office.  Only Ben Pangelinan and Matt Rector voted no.  This poses insignificant fees for the people of Guam as well.

Bill 181 gives a 4% pay increase for the Judges and Justices and no increases to the lower level workers.  Only Ben Pangelinan, Matt Rector, Telo Taitague and Judi Won Pat voted no.

Bill 200 gives a pay increase for the Attorney General but not for the lower level workers.  It passed with a 9-6 vote.

Bill 209 requires all persons or public officials that have authority over GovGuam contracts to comply with a financial disclosure.  All voted yes.  This will disclose of any conflict of interests.

Bill 135 authorizes the Department of Public Health and Social Services to use H2 visa fees to fund 16 public workers to conduct health inspections.  This bill passed with 11 yes votes and only Frank Blas Jr., Eddie Calvo and Ray Tenorio voting no.

Bill 147 gives more accountability with the Guam Economic Development Authority by prohibiting giving loans to those who already owe money to the Government.  This bill passed with an 11-3 vote.

Bill 175 allows private corporations control in certain functions of the Guam Power Authority and Guam Water Authority which may harm our current workers and increase rates.  Only BJ Cruz, Ben Pangelinan, Judi Guthertz, Matt Rector and Rory Respicio voted no.

Bill 191 allows all Graduates under the DOC Sanchez Scholarship Program to receive a pay increase.  All voted yes.  This rewards our workers for the higher education obtained which benefits their job.

Bill 227 gives Parole Officers hazardous pay.  This bill passed with only 1 no vote from Ben Pangelinan.  This compensates our Parole Officers for the hazardous situations that they undergo.

Bill 233 amends the Rules and Regulations on DOE school property to which will allow advertising on school property. DOE schools should remain neutral.  Only Ben Pangelinan and Matt Rector voted no.

Bill 207 allows DPW to use Federal Funds to buy property from the people of Guam and/or condemn property.  Only Ben Pangelinan and Matt Rector voted no.

Bill 229 decreases funds from the Yamashita Corp by taking away the opportunity to retain current teachers who would like to expand their knowledge and certification in education.  Unfortunately this bill passed with only BJ Cruz, Judi Guthertz, Ben Pangelinan, Matt Rector and Rory Respecio who voted no.

For a recap on the 15 Guam Senators, we have the following:

Senator Thomas C. Ada
Majority Whip
Committee on Utilities, Transportation, Public Works and Veterans Affairs

Senator Frank B. Aguon, Jr.
Committee on Economic Development, Health & Human Services, and Judiciary

Senator Frank F. Blas, Jr.

Senator Edward J.B. Calvo
Minority Leader

Senator Benjamin J.F. Cruz
Vice-Speaker
Committee on Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Public Broadcasting

Senator James V. Espaldon
Minority Whip

Senator Judith P. Guthertz, DPA
Assistant Majority Leader
Committee on the Guam Military Buildup and Homeland Security

Senator Tina R. Muna-Barnes
Legislative Secretary
Committee on Municipal Affairs, Aviation, Housing and Recreation

Senator Adolpho B. Palacios, Sr.
Committee on Public Safety, Law Enforcement, and Senior Citizens

Senator Vicente (Ben) C. Pangelinan
Committee on Appropriations, Taxation, Banking, Insurance, Retirement, and Land

Senator Matt Rector
Assistant Majority Whip
Committee on Labor, the Public Structure, Public Libraries and Technology

Senator Rory J. Respicio
Majority Leader
Committee on Rules, Natural Resources, and Federal, Foreign, & Micronesian Affairs

Senator Telo Taitague
Assistant Minority Whip

Senator Ray Tenorio
Assistant Minority Leader

Senator Judith T. Won Pat, Ed.D.
Speaker
Committee on Education

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Senator Matt Rector Apologies to Senator Telo Taitague

Sep 1

Posted by Sanjay Sharma in Legislature, Matt Rector, News | No Comments

Dear Senator Taitague:

Buenas Yan Hafa Adai!

Misunderstandings happen from time to time, it’s regrettable but it is the nature of life in general and the Democratic process in specific. It’s a shame that we had a misunderstanding and that it has become fodder for Guam’s corporate media to exploit. It has distracted from the real issues that are plaguing our island and our families; decent wages, paid sick leave, decent public education, affordable quality health care and an economy that works for everyone not just the wealthy few. For this reason, I will no longer participate in the he said she said, dirty laundry media game and this will be my final statement on the issue.

Senator, I am sorry for any perceived violation of your personal space.

If you think that I tapped you on the shoulder in an inappropriate manner, I apologize and I promise to do everything possible to give you room whenever I am in your vicinity. I hope that you accept this apology and we can move on to doing the job that the people of Guam elected both of us to do.

If we allow this to end here, I promise that I will not pursue any legal action with regards to this issue. That being said, I must be perfectly clear, I will always defend my good name. I have never violated, assaulted or lifted a hand in anger against anyone, man, woman, nor child, on Guam ever and anyone that says so will be held accountable for misrepresenting the truth.

In the future I hope that we will be able to contain our debate over ideological differences to the issue at hand. Even though I am incredibly passionate about the issues that I believe in, as I’m sure that you are as well, I hope that in the future we can both endeavor to keep our discussions at a professional level.

Thank you for your understanding and I look forward to being able to work with you in the professional manner in which the people of Guam elected us both to do.

Senseramente,
MATT RECTOR
SENATOR, I Mina’Trenta Na Liheslaturan Guåhan

After reading through the apology letter, I have to admit that Senator Matt Rector is trying to get his colleague to focus on his issues rather than simply apologizing.  “It has distracted from the real issues that are plaguing our island and our families; decent wages, paid sick leave, decent public education, affordable quality health care and an economy that works for everyone not just the wealthy few.”

Senator Telo Taitague and the rest of the Republican senators have not proposed anything so far that addresses those issues.  Come to think of it, I don’t remember if the Democrats, other than Senator Matt Rector, proposed legislation to address those issues.  Senator Tom Ada’s bill 30-223 to increase wages at the Port of Guam is a farce and doesn’t count as a good example.  It only increases the wages of the working employees by $0.06 per hour, and increments will be forever capped at $0.06 per hour, while management increases their salaries to around $300,000 for their Director.  All of Guam’s employees need a raise, not just the government employees.  I think GHURA (Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority) or some agency needs to levy fines against businesses that pay their employees poverty wages.  Hearing people like Monty Mesa on Mondays on K57 (waste of time) disturbs me when he talks about giving his employees minimum wage for years because the employees are slow to perform or are under-trained.

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Senator Rector’s youtube spots to promote Bill 180

Jul 30

Posted by Sanjay Sharma in Bills, Legislature, Matt Rector, News, Politics | No Comments

Senator Rector is leading the innovative arena as far as marketing his public hearings are concerned.  Here are two videos from Senator Matt Rector from youtube where he encourages the public to participate at in a public hearing for Bill 180 that adjusts the Government of Guam employees’ pay by an increase of $10,880.

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FAQ’s for Bill 180 $10,880 Pay adjustment for Guam’s Public Servants

Jul 29

Posted by Sanjay Sharma in Bills, Legislature, Matt Rector, Unions | 1 Comment

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FAQs Bill 180

Q: Who would get the $10,880 pay increase?

A: Every classified employee of the Government of Guam that doesn’t work for an autonomous agency.

Q: Why $10,880?

A: The last pay scale adjustment was in 1989, $10,880 reflects the amount that the lowest paid Public Servant (Pay Grade A, Step 1) has lost to inflation. People in higher pay grades like teachers, Accountants, Nurses, engineers etc have lost more.

Q: Will this be a final pay scale for Public Servants?

A: No, this is a minimum stop gap just to account for wages lost to inflation. There is currently a new Hay study underway which will reset all of the wages much higher eventually.

Q: Why don’t we wait until the next Hay study is done?

A: First we can’t wait. Public Servants have been told to wait for so long they can’t make ends meet. Second, This guarantees a minimum fair wage increase. Third, after the last couple of wage studies done we have seen that the results of the study may not reflect anything more than the marching orders given to the people doing the survey.

Q: Will we need to raise taxes to pay for this or is it an unfunded mandate?

A: No on both counts. The additional revenue will be generated by increasing the wages of private sector workers by a comparable amount via Bill 111. By forcing Large corporations to pay their employees a Living Wage the Public Structure saves millions in subsidies (EITC, GHURA housing, Food Stamps, MIP etc) and generates Millions of more dollars in tax revenues.

Q: Will this cause inflation?

A: No! History proves that the wages of workers on Guam has almost zero effect on our cost of living.

Q: Won’t businesses just use this as an excuse to raise their prices any way?

A: No. Business is competitive by nature, if a business can undercut another and still make a profit it will.

Q: Will this be “Anti-Business”?

A: No. In fact it’s just the opposite. When workers earn an extra dollar they spend it in our economy where it circulates ten times so our economy will grow and local businesses will prosper. Any additional cost that they may incur as a result of pay raises will be made up by the increased volume of business.

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