Guam Legislature shifts millions to Guam Memorial Hospital as lawmakers dispute $35 million funding source

The Committee of the Whole of the Guam Legislature on Aug. 18 approved multiple budget amendments to send additional funding to Guam Memorial Hospital (GMH), while budget and administration officials told legislators that a $35 million appropriation created in earlier public law does not appear in the named account.

Senator Sabrina Salas Montanani, who proffered several of the amendments on the GMH chapter, said the first adopted change redirected an existing appropriation so GMH would receive funds directly rather than routing the money through the Department of Corrections. "We're redirecting the 3,600,000 appropriation directly to GMH, to ensure that the funds are allocated efficiently and used specifically for the hospital needs," Montanani said on the floor.

The debate turned to a larger disputed item: public law language enacted in 2021 that lawmakers described as creating a "20‑first Century Healthcare Center of Excellence" appropriation of $35,000,000 for fiscal 2022. Revenue and budget witnesses and administration officials told the committee that, while the appropriation exists in law, the account that would hold those federal reimbursements or advances shows no balance.

Marie Lizama of the Department of Revenue and Taxation explained how the so‑called earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit transfers are handled: data are transmitted to the U.S. Treasury and, if approved, funds are deposited directly into designated accounts. "It is predicated upon data that we provide to the Treasury and then the Treasury gives us the funds," Lizama said. She and other witnesses emphasized that the federal…