Senators debate amendment to shift $3.65 million from Department of Corrections to Guam Memorial Hospital Authority

Members of the Committee of the Whole debated a proposed amendment to a pending bill that would delete a Section 5(a) provision and reallocate $3,650,000 from the Department of Corrections (DOC) to Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA).

Senator Jalahi said the amendment would be acceptable if it “continues to make DOC in compliance with the consent decree,” and added that testimony from Mr. Burner indicated GMHA “have been receiving this money, although I can understand now that they have inpatient that’s not being covered under this MOU.”

Ranking Member Tina Rose Munoz Barnes pressed for clearer language tying the transfer to specific uses. “I’d like to make an amendment to that amendment to say what it's specifically for,” she said, noting the committee was effectively taking $3,650,000 from DOC and inserting the provision for GMHA without showing a line-item explanation of how GMHA would use the funds.

Senators and the chair discussed procedure and placement of the amendment in the bill text: whether to bookmark Chapter 5 and amend later when the committee reaches that chapter, or to show the work now by adding the Chapter 5 language into the proffered amendment. Senator Montanani was identified as the member who proffered the main amendment.

No formal vote was recorded on the amendment during the transcript excerpt. Members agreed to a short recess and later a lunch recess; the committee planned to reconvene and to move or further amend the proffered changes after procedural steps were completed.

The discussion focused on three points: (1) ensuring any transfer would maintain DOC’s compliance with a court-ordered consent decree that led to an MOU governing health services, (2) clarifying whether inpatient services are covered under the existing MOU and therefore whether the proposed funds would address uncovered inpatient care, and (3) producing explicit language in the amendment to state the purpose of the funds rather than inserting the amount without line-item detail.

The committee did not take final action on the amendment in the recorded segment. Members directed that the amendment be formally moved and that the proponent incorporate the Chapter 5 explanatory language into the amendment so the record shows why the funding is being reallocated. The meeting recessed for lunch and planned to resume consideration after the break.