Legislature advances vetoed public-auditor bill to voting file after debate over enforcement powers

The Guam Legislature on the floor moved Bill 14-38 COR — a measure revising the duties of the Office of Public Accountability (OPA) — onto the voting file for the purpose of an override of the governor's veto.

The bill would allow the public auditor to take stronger steps to obtain documents and impose administrative consequences when agencies repeatedly fail to provide materials needed for timely audits, supporters said. Senator Tadhgiri, who moved the bill onto the voting file, said the measure is meant to "ensure accountability to those in trust" and to make audits "useful for our budgeting purposes."

Supporters argued the measure responds to continuing delays in agencies' submission of required records and said the Legislature has the authority to preserve the usefulness of audits. Senator Tadhgiri told colleagues the bill "ensures responsiveness and responsibility," and noted this bill was a reintroduction of similar legislation previously passed by the Legislature but vetoed by the governor.

Opponents said the bill does not go far enough to enforce timely reporting and, in some respects, creates perverse incentives. An unnamed senator who opposed the override argued the bill would risk turning the OPA into a fee collector or compliance officer and warned that nominal administrative fines could be ignored rather than prompting compliance, saying, "This is a fee to ignore all reporting requirements." That senator urged colleagues to craft a version with stronger enforcement teeth instead of the measure before them.

Members cited existing statutory enforcement mechanisms in other contexts (for example, penalties related to late filings) while debating whether the proposed sanctions and discretionary authorities for the public auditor would preserve independence or erode it. Several senators said they support the goal of timely audits but differed on whether the bill's mechanisms are appropriate.

By the end of the floor debate the body voted on the motion to place the vetoed bill on the third-reading (voting) file. The motion carried after one objection was recorded. The transcript shows the motion to place Bill 14-38 COR on the third-reading (voting) file was made by Senator Tadhgiri and that debate followed. The transcript does not record a final override vote of the governor's veto during the portion provided.

The Legislature's action places the vetoed measure before the body for a future recorded vote on whether to override the governor. No override outcome is recorded in the provided transcript.

What happens next: The bill's placement on the voting file means the Legislature will schedule a recorded vote on the override. If an override is to succeed it must meet the supermajority threshold provided by Guam law for overriding executive vetoes; the transcript portion provided does not include the final recorded override tally.