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GDOE warns that pending ARP/late-liquidation reimbursements are key to covering FY26 gaps
Summary
Deputy finance officials told the legislature they need a $54 million ARP payroll reimbursement and other grant reopenings to fill an estimated FY26 funding shortfall; without it, GDOE faces multi‑million-dollar gaps and may request a supplemental appropriation.
Deputy Finance Officer Wade Paul told the Committee on Nov. 14 that the Guam Department of Education’s FY26 appropriation totals $266.3 million before earmarks, but after restricted (fence) funds and set‑asides the department has roughly $228 million available for core operations. Paul said that outstanding unfunded needs include an estimated $8.8 million to fund 188 positions and approximately $4.5 million to meet SPED 1-to-1 aid needs.
Central to the department’s immediate financing strategy is a pending ARP payroll reimbursement and late-liquidation draws. Paul said the department has submitted documentation and is awaiting audit review; if the anticipated $54 million is recovered and allowable it would cover major shortfalls. “If we get the $54,000,000, it will cover the shortages in the $36,000,000,” Paul said.
Congressional and federal timing: Federal audits and brief shutdowns have affected the department’s ability to draw reimbursements promptly. Federal programs administrator Sean Rupley said the reopened consolidated grants recovered about $5.9 million of previously inaccessible funds; he and the department now meet weekly to obligate and monitor grants to avoid returning money. The department also faces possible near-term lapses and hard-close accounting deadlines (hard close cited as Nov. 19), which affect how much prior-year funding can be repurposed.
Vendor and payable backlog: Paul acknowledged both federal and local vendor-payable backlogs. He said the federal side had dozens of aged lines (he cited 37 on the federal side) totalling roughly $659,000 outstanding on certain grants; local side had only a few significant items. He said some vendors were paid as an exception to normal grant-closing rules to alleviate long-standing vendor complaints.
What the committee may need to consider: Officials warned that without federal reimbursements the department will have to seek legislative supplemental appropriations. Several senators said recent tax rollbacks had reduced projected revenue available for the government and contrasted those policy choices with pressing GDOE needs.
Representative quotes: Paul: “We do not have any money. The unfunded activities are what you’re going to see.” Sean Rupley: “We were able to get that grant reopened and we were able to recover about 5,900,000.0 of those funds.”
Next steps: The department and legislators agreed to continue coordination on ARP draws, reconciliations and possible supplemental budget requests. The committee set a Dec. 30 reconvening to review progress.
