Lawmakers move vetoed lease-oversight bill toward override vote after heated floor debate

The Guam Legislature voted to place vetoed Bill 119-38 COR, a measure to restore legislative oversight for exceptional-term contracts and leases longer than 15 years, into the third-reading/voting file after an extended floor debate over transparency and economic impacts.

Proponents said the prior change in law allowed agencies to approve multi-decade leases with only an internal "determination of need," removing public hearings and legislative scrutiny. One senator read testimony from former governors Joseph Ada and Eddie Baza Calvo (floor remarks referenced their committee testimony) in support of restoring oversight, and said the public auditor and attorney general also backed the measure.

Supporters framed the veto as undermining transparency and argued that keeping oversight for leases beyond 15 years protects public land and prevents "sweetheart deals." Opponents and the governor's veto message (summarized on the floor) asserted the bill could be "anti-business." Floor speeches emphasized the narrow margin by which the bill initially passed and the political stakes for the forthcoming override vote.

The motion to place the vetoed bill into the third-reading/voting file was carried by unanimous consent; an override vote was expected to occur at the scheduled voting session. The floor record contains robust accusations about past lease abuses and calls for checks and balances; no final override outcome was recorded in the transcript.