Statement from Speaker Therese Terlaje on the passing of Dr. Margaret Hattori-Uchima

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (December 27, 2022 – Hagåtña, Guam) – Below is a statement from Speaker Therese Terlaje on behalf of the 36th Guam Legislature:

“Our island mourns the tragic loss of Dr. Margaret Hattori-Uchima, Dean of the University of Guam School of Health and registered nurse for thirty-four (34) years.  Dr. Hattori has also been an educator for twenty-three (23) years, facilitating and advancing educational opportunities in her profession for Guam’s nurses and social workers for decades.

Dr. Hattori-Uchima has been recognized with such accolades as the 2019 Nurse of the Year from the Guam Nurses Association, American Academy of Nursing 2020 Class of Fellows as the first fellow from Guam, 2021 COVID Hero recognized by KUAM, and the 2022 Public Citizen Award from the National Association of Social Workers Guam Chapter, where she was honored with a Resolution from the 36th Guam Legislature.

“Dr. Hattori-Uchima was in a category of exceptional women of Guam, whose tireless commitment to advancing public health and welfare made a difference in so many lives, most especially our patients.  She was a visionary and a catalyst for change.  As the Chairperson for the Legislature’s Committee on Health, I trusted Dr. Hattori-Uchima’s institutional knowledge to improve the quality of healthcare on Guam and to ensure we remove all impediments to growing our local workforce and meeting Guam’s critical need for highly skilled nurses, social workers, nurse assistants, and other healthcare professionals,” stated Speaker Therese Terlaje.

As a dedicated professional, Dr. Hattori-Uchima set a high bar for her contributions in advancing healthcare and public welfare including advocating for disadvantaged communities on Guam and in the region, commitment to the homeless as a long-time member of the Guam Homeless Coalition, and work with the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program and the Pacific Island Partnership for Cancer Health Equity.

“On behalf of the 36th Guam Legislature, our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to Dr. Hattori-Uchima’s family, students, friends and close associates.

March 6, 2022 – Resolution Presentation Ceremony for 2022 National Association of Social
Workers (NASW) Guam Chapter Public Citizen Award to Dr. Margaret Hattori Uchima

PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE COMMITTEE REPORT FOR SUBSTITUTE BILL NO. 112-36 (COR), AS SUBSTITUTED AND FURTHER AMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, LAND, JUSTICE AND CULTURE

The Committee Report for Substitute Bill No. 112-36, As Substituted and further amended by the Committee on Health, Land, Justice and Culture was submitted to the Committee on Rules (COR) on December 7, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. and is awaiting approval from COR.

You can access a copy of the Committee Report for Substitute Bill No. 112-36 (COR) pending approval from Committee on Rules at this link.

A copy of Substitute Bill No. 112-36, As Substituted and further amended by the Committee can be found below:

PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE COMMITTEE REPORT FOR AMENDED BILL NO. 357-36 (COR), AS AMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE ON GENERAL GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, APPROPRIATIONS, AND HOUSING

The Committee Report for Amended Bill No. 357-36, As Amended by the Committee on General Government Operations, Appropriations, and Housing was submitted to the Committee on Rules (COR) on December 5, 2022. The report is awaiting clearance from the Acting Chairperson of COR.

You can access a copy of the Committee Report for Amended Bill No. 357-36 (COR) pending approval from Acting COR Chairperson at this link.

A copy of Amended Bill No. 357-36, As Amended by the Committee can be found below:

PUBLIC NOTICE FOR DECEMBER 2ND SESSION

Håfa Adai,

I Liheslaturan Guåhan will be called into Session on Friday, December 2, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. in the Speaker Antonio R. Unpingco Legislative Session Hall in the Guam Congress Building.

The placement of bills, resolutions, and appointments on the session agenda will be pursuant to our standing rules. A copy of the session agenda and potential items to be placed on the session agenda is found below:

The session will be broadcast on GTA Channel 21, Docomo Channel 117 or 112-4 and at http://www.guamlegislature.com/live_feed.htm. A recording of the session will be available online via Guam Legislature Media on YouTube after the session. Please email senatorterlajeguam@gmail.com or call 472-3586, if you require any special accommodations or further information.

Si Yu′os ma′åse′.

Public access to Substitute Bill No. 112-36 (COR), As Substituted by the Committee on Health, Land, Justice and Culture

The Substitute Bill No. 112-36, As Substituted by the Committee on Health, Land, Justice and Culture was submitted to the Committee on Rules on November 10, 2022 and was posted on the Legislature website.

You can access a copy of Substitute Bill No. 112-36 (COR) at this link

A Summary of Substitute Bill No. 112-36, As Substituted by the Committee can be found below:

A Roundtable / Public hearing will be held on November 22, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. in the public hearing room at the Guam Congress Building.

The public is invited to provide oral testimony at the Guam Congress Building, Public Hearing room. Written testimony may also be submitted via email senatorterlajeguam@gmail.com or hand delivered to the Office of Speaker Therese M. Terlaje at the Guam Congress Building. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals requiring special accommodations should contact the Office of Speaker Therese M. Terlaje at (671) 472-3586 or senatorterlajeguam@gmail.com . All hearings broadcast on GTA TV Channel 21, Docomo Channel 117/112.4, and livestream on the Guam Legislature YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GuamLegislatureMedia.

Speaker Terlaje introduces bill to extend $500 energy credit for GPA customers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (November 10, 2022 – Hagåtña, Guam)  

Speaker Therese Terlaje introduced Bill No. 357-36 (COR) which extends the Prugraman Ayuda Para I Taotao-ta Energy Credit Program and provides GPA customers with a $500 credit toward their account over the next five months. If passed, GPA customers will receive a $100 credit every month from December through April 2023.

The current Prugraman Ayuda Para I Taotao-ta Energy Credit Program is set to end in November, however ratepayers continue to suffer from increased power rates from the Guam Power Authority.  In October, the Public Utilities Commission decided to increase the Guam Power Authority fuel surcharge to nearly 32 cents per kilowatt-hour which would amount on average to a $22 increase in the total average monthly bill for residents using 1,000 kWh. The new rate will apply beginning in November and will last through January 2023, when the PUC will consider the surcharge again.

Bill No. 357-36 proposes to use unappropriated general fund revenues collected in excess of the adopted revenues levels of the FY 2022 Budget Act.  The government collected $103.5 M more in general funds than what was adopted in the FY 2022 Budget Act, according to the September 2022 Consolidated Revenue and Expenditure Report (CRER).  The CRER also subtracts all other FY 2022 and FY 2023 general fund appropriations from the $103.5 M excess revenues, still leaving an unobligated general fund revenue amount of $47.5 M for FY 2022. The appropriation in Bill No. 357-36 is for $26.3 M to the Guam Power Authority for the energy credit program.

“Many in our community are still feeling the economic impacts of inflation and the global pandemic and are in need of assistance, especially for basic monthly expenses like energy and gas prices. The government currently has excess revenues and must act now to provide this relief. It is my hope that the Legislature can act swiftly on this measure before the term ends,” stated Speaker Terlaje.

Bill No. 357-36 can be found here.

Statement from Speaker Therese M. Terlaje 

on the Late Master Ifit Carver, Robert Philip Taitano

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (Saturday, November 5, 2022- Hagatña, Guam) Today, our island has lost a strong and steady advocate of CHamoru culture, creativity, and resilience. Our hearts are heavy upon learning that Master Ifit Carver, and member of Guam’s Greatest Generation, Robert Philip Taitano of the village of Yigo, has passed away at the age of eighty-four. 

Master Robert Philip Taitano was a carpenter by trade, and a largely self-taught woodcarver, that began as a hobby in the 80’s, and then flourished into a business upon a growing demand for his exquisite wood pieces. For the last four decades, we were blessed with his artistry, and have admired and sought after the many carefully crafted and intricate wood pieces made by his steady hand. Each hardwood piece that he carved into life, whether it be a wooden table, a chongka board, cabinet, a Latte Stone plaque mounted by an ayuyu, or kamyo siya in the shape of the Haggan Bedi, materialized the beauty and uniqueness of our CHamoru culture and resilience and inspired a sense of pride.

For years, Taitano was commissioned to carve wooden nameplates for senators of the Guam Legislature, the speaker’s and judges’ gavels, a podium for former Guam Governor Edward Baza Calvo, and has made gift pieces for dignitaries at the request of Guam’s Delegates to the US Congress. Among his most exceptional wooden pieces were thirteen high-backed ifit chairs used to seat President Clinton and other dignitaries during an historic visit to Guam in 1998. The chairs are now housed in a museum in Hawai’i. Master Taitano also carved the Presidential Seal as a gift for the Commander-in-Chief.

On 29 April 2011, Robert Philip Taitano, was formally recognized in a ceremony as Master Folk Artist by the Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency. Master Taitano’s artistry and craft will live on through the steady hands of three of his sons, and others who have had the honor to have apprenticed under him, be inspired by his work.

On behalf of the 36th Guam Legislature, and the people of Guam, we send our deepest sympathies and prayers for peace and comfort to his wife Antonia Santos Taitano, his children Cindy and Tommy Hoover, Joseph Taitano and June Delgado, Bill Taitano, Mark and Lupita Taitano, Rodney Taitano, David Santos and Darlene Cruz, Johnny Taitano, Margaret Taitano and William Smith, Robert Jr. and Tanya Taitano, Jennifer, and Martin Torres, his 37 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

Bill To End Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault Moves to Voting File

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 21, 2022 – Hagåtña, Guam) – Speaker Therese Terlaje successfully moved Bill 319-36 (COR) into the third reading file during the first day of October session.  The bill mirrors a portion of U.S. Public Law 117-90, which amended the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), effectively invalidating any pre-dispute arbitration clause in cases involving sexual misconduct allegations. The intent of the measure is to apply these standards and protections locally.  The federal legislation was championed and supported by a mass coalition of survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault, and their allies, to include the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, among many, many more.

The Speaker stated, “Forced arbitration strips a survivor of the right to decide how to pursue accountability and does very little to stop this type of systemic abuse from occurring again. We have heard of stories from survivors right here on our island, for whom forced arbitration continues to place barriers in front of their quests for justice.  It must be the most unbearable thing to be sexually harassed or assaulted by an employer, a colleague, or a doctor and then be forced to settle your disputes in secretive proceedings- in a private system of costly mandatory arbitration. We must end the forced silence of victims.”

The bill would for the first time ensure that victims of sexual harassment and assault have the option of suing their abusers in court, invalidating any contract that closed off the option – a common condition of employment at many companies.  Nancy Erika Smith, an employment lawyer who represented Gretchen Carlson in a landmark sexual harassment case against the founder and then CEO of Fox News told the New York Times, “The Weinsteins, the Cosbys, the Roger Ailes and the Bill O’Reillys of the world used mandatory arbitration to force women into secrecy…They stayed in positions of power and continued to abuse women.”

The Speaker noted during her remarks on the bill that going to court is not easy, but the threat of woman going to court often make companies take a realistic view of their liability. When a woman files a sexual harassment lawsuit in court, she typically ends up hearing from other women and that doesn’t happen when you file a request for arbitration. It’s a much bigger threat to be able to go to court.

“I’d like to thank my colleagues for their consideration on this bill, but mostly I would like to thank the courageous souls who have shared their stories of tragedy and challenges with the system as they seek justice.  We can only make these types of meaningful changes to our laws when these voices speak out bravely and loudly,” said Speaker Terlaje.

Bill No. 319-36 can be found here.