“Some folks want to pay taxes to GovGuam, such as the backers of Prop A, and the general consensus appears to be one of chasing those folks away. Others do not want to pay -- or at least not the prevailing rate -- in taxes to Gov Guam, such as the new hospital foundation, and the general consensus appears to be one of welcoming those folks.”
That comment is in quotes because we didn’t write it. It was posted on our website by a reader who goes by the name of Mathew. We think he makes some thought-provoking points with his observation about some events that have been in the news this week—the for-profit bingo initiative on the ballot as Prop A, the passage yesterday at the Legislature of Bill 52, and word that the new private hospital now under construction intends to seek a QC.
The timing and much of the rhetoric at the legislative session suggested that there might have been heavy pressure on the senators to support Bill 52, one of Governor Eddie Calvo’s earliest statutory proposals. It mandates a 24-hour waiting period before anyone can obtain a legal abortion on Guam, and requires they be given information about the procedure and alternatives to it. The bill had a hearing, went back to committee, and sat there for more than a year, until the committee’s chairman, Sen. Dennis Rodriquez, brought it out for a special session called by the Governor.
If that all seemed just a little pat to you, it did to Mathew as well.
“So, it would not be inaccurate to say that Guam likes tax avoiders and evaders,” he went on to say. “For the best current example, one needs to look no further than the Chair of the Health Committee, Sen. Dennis Rodriguez, Jr., whose parents are on the receiving end of a terrific deal, albeit a tentative one, with their outstanding tax liabilities, courtesy of Adelup's interference on said matter. An offer of less than 10 cents on the dollar to settle, which was an offer that was made after (the case) was yanked away from the purview of the Attorney General’s Office. With these kinds of sweet deals in the works, there should not be a surprise to anyone if Sen. Rodriguez, Jr., will be at the beck-and-call of Gov. Calvo on the abortion bill. Or, in other words, the quid pro quo in this case was the "tax assistance" that Adelup offered to the Senator's family.”
The bill eventually passed, 11-4, with bi-partisan support but also three prominent Democratic senators --- Speaker Judi Won Pat, Tom Ada, and Ben Pangelinan --- voting no. Republican senator Aline Yamashita also cast a no vote.
The for-profit bingo initiative would, if passed, at least provide some tax revenue to the Government of Guam. No revenue comes from the other bingo games on island, the proceeds of which go to non-profit organizations. As for the hospital QC, it will likely be approved. The bingo revenue is, apparently, not very important.
Nor is tax revenue from the hospital despite our cash-short circumstances.
“And Gov. Calvo goes around trumpeting his mirage of spending cuts as though that will solve Gov Guam's financial problems when the real problem is this community does not want to pay for anything, except if it is paid for by somebody else, and usually that is the Feds,” concluded Mathew.
