Committee advances amendment to appropriate excess business privilege tax to Guam Memorial Hospital pharmaceutical fund

The Committee of the Whole advanced an amendment to substitute bill 44-38 COR to appropriate excess Business Privilege Tax (BPT) collections owed to the Guam Memorial Hospital (GMH) pharmaceuticals fund, lawmakers said during floor proceedings.

Senator Metinani introduced language “to add a new section to chapter 8” directing that excess BPT collections from prior fiscal years be appropriated to GMH for purposes authorized by “subsection 26‑208, article 2, chapter 26 of Title 11, Guam Code Annotated,” the amendment text says. Committee remarks cited a cumulative shortfall to the pharmaceutical fund of about $10.9 million from fiscal year 2019 to the present and an additional roughly $721,000 in fiscal year 2025.

Why it matters: committee members said the hospital’s pharmaceutical fund lost deposits when adopted budget caps prevented full transfers of BPT proceeds, creating an unpaid balance they now aim to restore through the amendment.

Discussion and concerns

Several senators voiced support for making GMH whole but asked for financial validation and a clear funding source before finalizing the appropriation.

“Unless this can be validated by the OFB, I’d have reservations,” said Senator St. Augustine, asking that the Office of Finance and Budget confirm that the excess collections exist. “Once they validate it, I’m good.”

Senator Tidegwu pressed for the origin and years behind the $10.9 million figure, asking, “Where did this number come from, and what years are that did not pay in any excess BPT?” Tidegwu later cited a specific figure raised in the hearing: “$10,926,200. Where did this number come from… what exact years were not paid?”

Senator Metinani responded that the totals were drawn from yearly audits for fiscal 2019 through 2023 and that the calculation used a 6.19% allocation rate due to the GMH pharmaceutical fund: “These are numbers from the… each fiscal year audit from 2019 to 2023… and this is also based on the 6.19% due to GMH pharmaceutical fund.”

Members also questioned where the appropriation’s funding source would be identified. “I don’t see a funding source here at all,” said one senator, noting that appropriations typically require an identified source and that the committee should clarify how the money would be covered given prior spending.

Amendment to the amendment and next steps

Metinani offered a limiting change to the amendment’s language to make the appropriation contingent on validation by the administration; the committee adopted an amendment to the amendment that inserted qualifying language (reported in the hearing as inserting the words “up to”), limiting the maximum amount subject to appropriation while the total is validated.

After discussion, the Committee of the Whole reported the substitute bill 44-38 COR, as substituted and amended in committee, to the third reading file. Senator Dunyas moved to place the bill in the third reading file; the motion carried without recorded objection. Committee members recessed and will return for further floor consideration; the body later recessed until Friday at 10 a.m.

What the record shows and what remains unresolved

The transcript records the committee’s intent to direct excess BPT collections to GMH’s pharmaceuticals fund and reports audit-based totals and a cited 6.19% allocation rate. Members repeatedly requested official validation of the underlying collections and a clear statement of the funding source before final appropriation. The record does not show a formal, recorded roll-call vote on the amendment’s dollar amount; it does show floor approval to move substitute bill 44-38 COR to third reading with the committee’s amendments intact.

Forward look

The bill, as substituted and amended, will appear on the third reading file for further consideration by the full legislature. Committee members asked the administration and the Office of Finance and Budget to validate the audit totals and to clarify the funding source before final enactment.