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Senators push $20M for Guam Memorial Hospital; chair rules related revenue amendments out of order, prompting floor dispute
Summary
Senator Montanani successfully amended an amendment to direct $20 million in FY26 excess revenue to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority, but the chair later ruled other similar amendments out of order, sparking repeated points of order and objections from multiple senators.
Senators debated and then moved to an amendment to direct $20 million in excess FY26 revenue to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMH) for operational expenses.
Senator Sabrina Salas Montanani proffered an amendment to public law language that initially referenced the "net unobligated fiscal year 2026 general fund balance." After OFB and members highlighted timing and procedural concerns, Montanani altered the amendment to read that the first $20,000,000 "from revenue collected in excess of adopted FY 2026 levels" be appropriated to GMH for FY26 operational needs. The committee’s amendment-to-amendment was adopted on the floor.
The change was intended to let the hospital access funds sooner than would have been possible under the prior phrasing, which OFB said risked delaying disbursement until audited year-end balances were available. OFB and several senators said they believed the revised wording would allow earlier access; dissenting senators pressed for clarity on whether the funds were already accounted for in CER reports and whether existing obligations would reduce the unobligated balance.
Shortly after the GMH amendment passed, a procedural dispute erupted. Several senators offered other amendments seeking similar uses of excess revenues; the chair ruled at least one additional proposed amendment out of order on the grounds that an earlier amendment had appropriated the amount and that new appropriations for the prior fiscal year should be placed in miscellaneous provisions. Senators objected, citing legal advice that the legislature can amend current-year appropriations while considering the next fiscal-year bill and asking the chair to cite a specific rule. Repeated points of order, requests to overrule the chair and calls for recess followed; the committee recessed to reconvene later.
The exchanges included references to prior public laws and to the mechanics used in last year’s budget. OFB supplied figures (a May CER unobligated balance referenced at roughly $88 million and a set-aside for special-fund shortfalls of about $23.4 million), and senators said they would follow up during the miscellaneous provisions and by proposing amendments to allow GMH to spend any received funds.
