Guam Legislature Debates $104M ARPA Utilities Plan; Final Vote Fails 2-10

The Committee of the Whole spent a day pressing agency officials and housing authority representatives over Bill 15-S, a measure that would authorize using $104 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for utilities infrastructure at Lot 5280-3 in Mangilao (Manila). After extended debate about Treasury guidance, procurement review and recent litigation, the legislature proceeded to a third-reading roll call; the final recorded vote was 2 yays, 10 nays and 3 excused.

Senator Perez opened the questioning by reading a court ruling that limited GURAs eminent-domain authority and by citing Treasury capital-expenditure rules that require written justification for projects with total capital expenditures of $10 million or more. He asked to see the document submitted to Treasury that justified the obligation and warned about the possibility of having to return ARPA funds if federal conditions were not met. "I would like to see those documents," he said, pressing officials to provide the Treasury docket and interagency agreements.

Panelists said a written justification had been submitted to Treasury when the project…