Floor leader urges audits, accountability and economic diversification as tourism lags

In a lengthy floor address, Floor leader Marissa Flores framed recent legislative actions within a broader call for institutional reform and economic diversification.

Flores recounted the covenant and constitution, then described tourism's historical role and recent decline, saying "In 2024, visitor arrivals were approximately 228,963 people, less than half of pre-pandemic levels." She warned that continued contraction could "compound existing fiscal pressures" and pointed to repeat audit findings, procurement irregularities, and weak internal controls as systemic problems that require statutory fixes.

To address those failures, Flores proposed a package of reforms she said the legislature should institutionalize: audit deadlines within six months of fiscal-year close, mandatory corrective-action plans tied to appropriations, public quarterly reporting on audit resolution status, centralized procurement compliance review, independent internal-audit units within major departments, and enforceable penalties for unresolved repeat findings. "Repeat findings must trigger consequence. Otherwise, we institutionalize failure," she said.

Flores also urged the Commonwealth to move from discussion to implementation on economic diversification — citing logistics, digital remote professional services, renewable energy, workforce training, and research partnerships as possible directions — and stressed that accountability and performance must accompany any recovery effort.

The address followed legislative action on appropriations and veto overrides and was presented on the House floor after committee reports on Public Law 24-20.