Guam lawmakers, budget office spar over DOE funding; education officials warn of cuts if requests unmet

The Guam Legislature's Committee on General Government Operations and Appropriations spent a late session questioning the Guam Department of Education's budget request and the executive branch's treatment of education funding, with agency leaders warning that significant cuts or layoffs could follow if additional money is not provided.

The dispute centered on how the executive branch presented DOE in the Executive Budget Request (EBR) and on how much of the department's previously appropriated funds remain unspent. BBMR and OFB fiscal staff said the EBR was submitted Jan. 31 and that DOE and several other agencies were grouped in a reserve category rather than shown as separate line items. DOE officials and several senators said that made it difficult to reconcile requests, appropriations and carryover funds.

Why it matters: DOE is Guam's largest agency by head count and budget. Lawmakers said uncertainty about whether DOE can absorb additional appropriations and whether lapses are available for carryforward affects decisions over whether the legislature should restore or add tens of millions of dollars to the department's proposed FY-26 appropriation.

BBMR official Steve Carlson told the committee, "BBMR prepares the governor's executive budget request for submission to the legislature. And we did so on January 31." Carlson said BBMR did not use reserve-agency submissions in preparing the EBR and that staff derived reserve…