Guam Rules Committee places dozens of bills and nominations on session agenda; one nomination draws objection

The Committee on Rules of the 38th Guam Legislature convened at 2:03 p.m. March 12 and, after a roll call confirming a quorum, approved its Jan. 14 minutes and heard a legislative secretary report that 69 appointments have been submitted to date and 48 have been confirmed.

"The following is the legislative secretary report to date. Appointments. In total, there have been 69 appointments submitted. Of that number, 48 have been confirmed," Legislative Secretary Senator Solace Manani said during the meeting.

Committee members then moved a broad slate of bills, resolutions and nominations onto the session agenda for consideration by the full Legislature. The items placed on the agenda spanned land use and property codes, language and administrative policy, tax and health measures, and appropriations for legislative cybersecurity needs.

Notable bills placed on the session agenda included Bill 131-38 COR (authorizing sale of a portion of Lot 5174-REM-1 with proceeds directed to the Tomorrowland Trust infrastructure and survey fund), Bill 160-38 CO (adding a provision to adopt the international property management code for certain Hel Zone properties), Bill 218-38 (as introduced, requiring official use of the spelling "Chamorro" in government documents), Bill 231-38 (a tax amnesty measure), Bill 246-38 (adding the Guam Cancer Trust Fund to entities exempt from allotment release controls), and Bill 262-38 (an appropriation of $890,000 to the legislature for cybersecurity and IT needs for fiscal year 2026).

Committee members also reported out health and workforce measures including Bill 206-38, which as described would expand licensure pathways for foreign medical graduates and establish a local physician waiver program; Bill 219-38, which would amend petitioning authority under the assisted outpatient treatment provisions commonly referenced as the "Baby Alexia" law; and Bill 254-38, which would align cannabis agricultural requirements with general agricultural practice on Guam.

Several resolutions addressing K–12 policy and student wellness (Resolutions 126-38 and 127-38) were also added to the session agenda. Nominations forwarded to the session agenda included Genevie Repotus for the Guam Ethics Commission and Annie Udalu for the Guam Board of Medical Examiners; the appointment of Ricardo Busabio to the Guam Board of Medical Examiners drew a recorded objection in committee (the transcript records the objection but does not record a final committee vote or disposition of that objection).

Most items were placed on the agenda by unanimous consent after the chair asked for objections and none were voiced. The committee moved bills into the second-reading file and adopted the session agenda; the meeting adjourned at 2:33 p.m.

The committee made no recorded roll-call votes on individual bills in the transcript of this meeting; actions are recorded as unanimous consent unless otherwise noted.