27 Sep 2004

Guam Government shutdown possible as budget standoff continues

7:41 pm on 27 September 2004

Guam faces a possible shutdown after the Legislature passed the same budget Governor Felix Camacho vetoed a few weeks ago.

The Marianas Variety reports the Camacho administration is planning to meet with various department heads to plan for the possible government.

The new version of the budget was split into two bills, one covering the budgets of major agencies and the other covering planned spending of the executive department and the legislature.

However, the two bills are still based on a revenue projection of 447 million-US dollars, the same as in the original budget rejected earlier.

Governor Camacho says that revenue figure is unworkable and a more realistic budget would have revenue projections about 50 million less than what the legislature is calling for.

A meeting this week is expected to discuss contingency measures that can be adopted in case a budget agreeable to both sides is not passed by Friday, the start of the new fiscal year.

The Organic Act says the governor has no authority to run the government if a new budget bill is not passed for a new fiscal year.