February 23, 2018

(Hagåtña) – Disappointed with failed motions that included compromises which took the Legislature’s proposals into account, Governor Eddie Baza Calvo joined this morning’s session and addressed lawmaker’s directly.

“How do you take these massive cuts, which is good for stimulus, and yet pay for public health, Medicare, and our defense department to protect our nation, all the services that are necessary for the stability of the United States of America. .. They [the United States] borrowed $900 billion dollars immediately. … And that’s how they were able to provide for it,” stated Governor Calvo.

The Governor goes on to say, “Why are we dealing with bill 245 that have immediate effects to our government and our revenues that will provide payroll and our services — for something that was left to us just about a month or so ago. … I’m looking at all of you straight in the eye, I’m here for compromise, I’m here for consensus.”

“My responsibility first and foremost is not to any Calvo family business. It is being t he Governor and to a hospital that is going down the tank. And if it goes down the tank, that means people’s lives, not their jobs, but LIVES. So I introduced the bill, and I got heat for it, people were upset. But the reason I introduced bill 245 is because the can was kicked, and kicked, and kicked, until the crisis – not of our making – it intersected,” Governor Calvo continued, “I don’t like to raise taxes. I’m doing it because we have to.”

“It means not only cutting off services. It means the guy whose buck stops here – that’s going to have to issue out the furlough notices, and the layoff notices. It won’t be you. It’ll be me.”

Governor Calvo called for lawmaker’s resignations following their lack of action, “if every one of you don’t have a solution, then I am asking for your resignation right here. We’ve gotta stop treating the GovGuam employees like they’re some sub-human. If you’re going to allow me that responsibility for signing somebody’s layoff. I’m going to look you straight in the eye and say resign. Because you did not work with this administration to keep this government stable and to keep this economy moving forward.”

Shortly thereafter, freshman lawmaker Telena Nelson referred to the Governor’s statements as harassment, to which he responded, “this is not harassment, these are facts. I want you to join me, and stand next to me when I am laying off our government workers.”

She continued to speak over the Governor and interrupted his response to her statement, “No allow me as Governor of Guam, as your fellow public servant, if you are saying if you believe it’s harassment, then I tell you this. I want you to be with me when I lay the people off,” Governor Calvo ended his statements with, “I’m not going to harass you, but I’m going to be straight up.”

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