FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (April 8, 2020 – Hagåtña, Guam) – Following up on her letters sent last week to the Department of Administration and Department of Revenue and Taxation, Senator Therese Terlaje again urged Governor Lou Leon Guerrero to order the immediate distribution of tax refund checks for over 3000 taxpayers whose returns are already processed and to expedite the processing of all remaining returns.

“It is unconscionable under current unemployment and furlough circumstances to hold these refunds another day,” said Senator Terlaje.

Please see attached letter sent to Governor Lou Leon Guerrero from April 7, 2020. Also attached are copies of the previous letters to the Department of Administration and Department of Revenue and Taxation dating to March 30, 2020.

For more information, please contact Senator Therese M. Terlaje’s office at (671) 472-3586 or via e-mail at senatorterlajeguam@gmail.com. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 31, 2020 – Hagåtña, Guam) – After trying to gain consensus on ways to deal with social distancing concerns, Senator Therese Terlaje continues to advocate for legislative business to move forward.

The Senator stated that she is working around the clock to ensure that the Legislature stays abreast of this rapidly evolving situation and does its part to address any impediments or concerns raised.

“Previous legislatures carefully transferred broad powers to the Governor and the Public Health Director during a public health emergency so that lives could be saved.  It is impossible for any legislature to have anticipated the unprecedented effects on the healthcare system, workers, and families that we are facing today. Today, Congress and legislatures across the nation are taking unprecedented action to enhance survival. We must do the same.

It is the Guam Legislature’s duty to bring stability to chaos, to promote transparency, and to find justice for all patients, workers and families affected.  This is done through deliberation and hard work, despite the challenging and rapidly changing conditions.  I am not deterred by the unexpected delay, but caution that the calling and cancelling of session should never be political.  As a separate and unique branch of government, senators must put the best interests of the people first.

Our priority must be on acting deliberately together as a body to ensure health and safety, and to bring rapid economic relief to the people of Guam.”

Under separate cover, Senator Terlaje also sent letters to both Dafne Shimizu, Director of Department of Revenue and Taxation, and Edward Birn, Director of Department of Administration, to urge the immediate payment of all processed tax refunds. According to a report filed as of February 2020, there were 4,398 refund returns processed but unpaid. In addition, there were 1,741 returns still unprocessed for tax year 2018 and 619+ for tax year 2019.

“While our residents potentially wait weeks for federal assistance, there is nothing stopping the administration from prioritizing outstanding refunds for immediate relief. The Guam Legislature has already appropriated the funding through the FY2019 and FY2020 budgets and by statute, required deposits to be made. No additional legislation could further ensure these refunds are prioritized.  That responsibility falls squarely on the Executive Branch.”

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (March 20, 2020 – Hagåtña, Guam) —The Legislature’s Committee on Health is encouraged by news that the newly converted COVID SNF Isolation facility has opened the first of three wings to receive patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently receiving medical care. 

The recently constructed A Wing can accommodate up to 20 people and the B & C wings can then be opened to accommodate 40 more patients for a total of 60, should the need arise.

There are multiple levels of contingency plans put in place by Linda DeNorcey and the team at the Department of Public Health and Social Services, together with GMHA and other government agencies and healthcare facilities, if expansion beyond the COVID SNF becomes necessary.

We continue to closely monitor our progress and are aware that there is still much work that needs to be done as we fight this unprecedented threat to the health, safety and security of the people of Guam.

Additionally, we have confirmed and would like to remind the public of the following:

-Pharmacies will remain open and are operating full time to handle increased demand while incorporating increased social distance precautions for patients.

-Insurance companies, and Medicaid and MIP have all authorized early and extended refills to decrease contact and facilitate sheltering in place especially of our most vulnerable patients.

-Insurance companies and providers on Guam have now worked out parameters for increased Telehealth during this pandemic emergency which will also help keep people safely at home.

-Providers are stepping up triage and urgent care methods that limit the risk of cross-infection of other patients and relieve the hospital.

-DPHSS is accepting new applications and renewals online for all public welfare benefits, including SNAP, Medicaid, and MIP. dphss.guam.gov/bes-resources/.

-DPHSS is also handling prior authorization requests from health providers via fax. 

-DPHSS has advised that more COVID-19 test kits are expected to arrive early next week.

My colleagues and I are fully aware of the layoffs and economic impacts to tourism industry and affecting all of Guam, and are committed to putting measures in place to assist all those impacted, who cannot be made whole through existing local or federal programs.

While our health professionals and other first responders are putting themselves and their families at risk, the rest of us need to shelter in place and work from home to save the lives of our Manamko’, our dialysis and cancer patients and all those with immunocompromised conditions.

We will not get a second chance to get this right. Whether the government is mandating you or not, please stay home and anticipate that many in the community may be carrying the virus without symptoms. Do not take a chance on exposure to the virus. Let us increase precautions by sheltering in place, to save the lives of our frontline workers and those we love.

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (February 4, 2020- Hagåtña, Guam)- Bill 210-35 (COR), introduced by Senator Therese M. Terlaje, to appropriate $10 million dollars from the Hospital Capital Improvement fund for GMHA’s top three urgent projects which include the roof repairs, the electronic health record, and the electrical panel, was unanimously passed in today’s legislative session.

“With the passage of Bill 210 into law, I look forward to GMHA’s swift action to use the $10 million in funding to expand the Electronic Health Record system or address any of the other urgent repairs, pending the availability of additional funds.

The Army Corps of Engineers, in their preliminary outbrief, made it clear that whether we build a new hospital or repair the current one, costs for repair projects for the existing facility should be incorporated to obtain/maintain CMS accreditation for a 7-year window minimum timeframe.

Our sick and dying loved ones at the hospital deserve the best care we can give.

There is no higher priority use of government funds today than fixing our hospital’s leaking roof, electrical panel and elevators, and ensuring accurate medical records and CMS protections.

Funding the hospital is a unanimous policy of the legislature based on the clear mandate of the people,” stated Senator Therese Terlaje. 

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (February 17, 2020- Hagåtña, Guam)- Senator Therese M. Terlaje introduced Bill 294-35 (COR) today, to prioritize an additional $11 Million of improvements to the current Guam Memorial Hospital facility, above less critical expenditures in the current Executive Budget request for FY2021.

“All the revenue we receive as a government is meaningless if we cannot provide a safe place for our community during the most vulnerable times of our lives. Patients and their families deserve to walk into our hospital without seeing a leaking roof and wondering if the electrical panel, air system, or medical record system will put them at risk.”

According to the Chairperson of the Legislature’s Committee on Health, approximately $21 Million Dollars of priority projects are estimated in order to protect CMS Accreditation and to maintain patient safety pending construction of a new hospital, that may take up to five years to realize.

During FY2020, $10 Million was appropriated to GMH from FY2019 Business Privilege Tax revenues in excess of FY2019 appropriated revenues through Public Law 35-36 and Bill 210, which recently lapsed into law. The Governor’s FY2021 budget is $506,766 less than the total appropriated for FY2020 and again does not allocate funding for the known urgent capital improvement needs of the hospital.

Bill 294-35 will immediately dedicate an additional $11 Million to GMH capital improvement and equipment priorities from FY2021 revenues. This investment will allow for the adequate planning and thorough vetting of additional long-term construction plans for the hospital.

Highest priorities of the hospital include investing in the continued accreditation of the hospital by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and addressing the most urgent structural deficiencies, equipment needs, and infrastructure deficiencies of the current hospital facility.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (February 6, 2020) – The Crime Victim’s Rights Act of 2004 granted victims the right to be notified of certain developments in their cases, including changes to the defendant’s confinement status. Victims sometimes had not been notified, or when they were notified, it was after the defendant’s release. This is a gap in victim service delivery that deprives victims of this right, compromises victim safety, and causes a feeling of re-victimization.

“The Attorney General’s Office launch of the Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) program is an important step towards closing the victim notification gap, and I look forward to prompt and continued expansion of the system, to include automatic notification of time of actual release.”

Victims will now be able to access and, if they choose, to be actively notified of court hearing dates and outcomes. They will no longer have to wait for phone calls or call themselves to obtain this information.

“Having timely, reliable information at their fingertips, on their computer or mobile device, accessible twenty-four hours a day, is vital to victim engagement, empowerment, and safety. I look forward to and will continue to support other measures to ensure victim safety and enhance victim service delivery.”  

To access VINE visit vinelink.com, download the VINELink APP or call 1-877-484-8463.

For more information feel free to call the Office of Senator Therese Terlaje at 472-3586, or email senatorterlajeguam@gmail.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (April 17, 2019 – Hagåtña)

Senator Therese Terlaje and Senator Sabina Perez were concerned after hearing several government agencies’ comments on the Mariana Islands Training and Testing (MITT) draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and are encouraging all to have a say in the health and well-being of our livelihood and environment as impacted by military testing and training in our region.  The April 17^th deadline has been extended to April 27^th for the public to submit comments to the Department of the Navy on the proposed actions in the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). 

The draft SEIS is an update to the 2015 Final MITT Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS) and is intended to assess potential environmental impacts that would be caused by the Navy’s training and testing activities that include the use of active sonar and explosives.  This study area encompasses 984,601 square nautical miles of the entire ocean across and beyond the Mariana Islands, which is larger than the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Montana and New Mexico combined.

Currently, the Navy’s permit allows 12,580 detonations of various magnitudes per year for 5 years, and 81,962 takings (or killings) of 26 different marine mammal species per year for 5 years. 

On August 15, 2019, Senator Therese Terlaje and Senator Sabina Perez conducted a joint informational briefing on the 2019 MITT Draft Supplemental EIS and invited Bureau of Statistics and Plans, Guam Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, Guam State Historic Preservation Officer, Guam Preservation Trust, Guam Historic Preservation Review Board, Guam Waterworks Authority, and Guam Solid Waste Authority to share their expertise and comments on the potential impacts of the MITT on Guam’s environment, resources, cultural sites, and health.

Agencies highlighted various concerns:

Brent Tibbets, Biologist with Fisheries Section of Guam Department of Agriculture

He states, “reviewing the EIS, there are several portions of it that are comment worthy. I guess I would say one, of course, is the potential to interact with marine mammals with the activities that we see being proposed. Sonar, vessel interactions, explosive detonation in the water, all of these have the potential to impact marine mammals. One of the concerns from the EIS is that for all of the marine mammals that are mentioned, I don’t think there’s a single one that has the most current information available listed with it. We have information on strandings, on sightings, on whales sighted giving birth that were not mentioned in the EIS anywhere. And I’m not certain where that information was gotten from, but all of this information that was provided to our federal partners as well as that we have available, was not mentioned in the EIS.”  He continues to state, “We do have additional stranding records. We have additional records of marine mammals identified giving birth in the region. One of particular concern is the mention of the Agat offshore mine detonation site. That’s almost precisely where we have photographic evidence of sperm whales giving birth which are both marine mammal and endangered species listed organisms. Though it’s not listed anywhere in the EIS that incidents like that. Another area of concern is vessel strikes. Vessel strikes with marine mammals are addressed in the EIS but we have a greater incidence of vessel strikes with sea turtles on Guam. We’ve had at least five sea turtles killed by vessel strike in the last seven years on Guam that we’ve been able to identify. It’s difficult to identify the vessel that did strike the turtle. Nearly all of these occurred in inner Apra Harbor which is pretty much closed to all activity except military vessel activities. So the implication is that it could be military vessel strikes that are causing the sea turtle mortality. Another area in the EIS is mentioned… a large area to southeast of Guam Whiskey 517 is an area it was mentioned. It was very closely related to some offshore fishing banks where we documented a fair amount of fishing activity. In the last two years those banks have been off-limits about a 120 days, an average for the last two years which is about a third of the year for activity and primarily for fishing activity. Now they do fall just outside the range that is delineated but we’ve had fishermen report that when they get down to the banks there are military vessels that are telling them to not enter while activities are going on even though they’re outside the area.”

Edwin Reyes, Administrator, Guam Coastal Management Program, Bureau of Statistics and Plans

He states during his slide presentation regarding the MITT process, “it’s going to be a discussion on mitigation or project adjustments.  So this is an engagement process where we can understand the project fully but then also work to ensure that the resources of the territory are protected.”  He further states, “so the initial concepts that we’ll be looking at just by reading the executive summary (of the SEIS) one of them is marine habitat. So we want to ensure that military expended material will not pose contamination threats as material breaks down. This is not only a direct impact as the detonation occurs but any particles that may be consumed by organisms that can affect the food chain.  We’re not looking at just the moment but what could happen after the activity takes place.  We are concerned about any kind of seafloor detonations within our coastal zone and this doesn’t matter if there’s no corals on hard bottom or substrates.  With or without the presence of coral we know that the hard bottom substrate is an important area where coral polyps can settle and we want to be sure that that habitat is protected.”

Jesse Cruz, Administrator, Guam EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Analytical Services

He mentions 12 different issues with the draft SEIS.  Two of the 12 issues are the following: “At minimum, a yearly report should be produced summarizing all activities identified in the MITT.  There is no current mechanism to evaluate if the activities and quantities identified in the MITT are met or exceeded.  Report should also address any impacts to stressor types.”  Additionally, he states, “Neither the 2015 MITT nor the 2019 Supplemental MITT have a discussion on the rational for an increase from a 10 lbs. underwater mine charge to the new standard of a 20 lbs. charge for the listed mine detonation activities.  What is the justification for the increase?  This needs to be further explained and justified.” 

Joe Quinata, Chief Program Officer, Guam Preservation Trust and

Dave Lotz, Member of Guam Historic Preservation Review Board

Regarding the Cultural Resources section of the draft SEIS, the State Historic Preservation Officer was not present at the informational briefing but did relay to her oversight chair that her concern was that the list of cultural resources referenced in the SEIS does not fully incorporate all the cultural resources that may be impacted.  Representatives from the Guam Preservation Trust and the Guam Historic Preservation Review Board echoed the SHPO’s sentiments.

The draft SEIS for the MITT is available at https://mitt-eis.com/.  The public is encouraged to submit their comments at https://mitt-eis.com/ by April 27, 2019.

Terlaje and Perez both reiterate, “Guam does not have a seat at the table to say yes or no to the detonations or use of sonar in our lands and waters.  But we can, for the sake of our children, make it very clear on the record that we individuals and agencies object to the cumulative harm.  We are looking to our government agencies and all of our leaders to do whatever it takes to protect our resources and health.”

See copies of all of the written comments from the agencies present at the informational briefing below:

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (April 10, 2019– Hagåtña) – Senator Therese M. Terlaje introduced Bill No. 78-35 (COR) to address the $5.6 million dollar shortfall the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) is facing to pay Medicaid claims to private entities through the end of Fiscal Year 2019.

Based on claims received, current processing, and expenditure projections, DPHSS needs approximately $5.6 million dollars for local matching requirements and only has enough funding through the first week of April for regular Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid and Medicaid Childless Adults claims from private medical providers.

The Medicaid Program subsidizes health care costs for approximately 43,549 low-income individuals. Appropriating $5.6 million dollars for local matching requirements for the Guam Medicaid program will allow DPHSS to access an additional $6.8 million dollars in federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) grant funds.

Senator Therese Terlaje first called attention to this shortfall in Medicaid funding during a February 7, 2019 informational briefing with DPHSS and with her introduction of Bills No. 35-35 and 36-35.  At that time, DPHSS reported a potential $13.3 million dollar shortfall for local matching funds for Medicaid.  Since then, an Executive Order was signed by the Governor to redirect $7.7 million dollars of the FY 2019 GMHA Pharmaceutical Funds back to DPHSS to pay GMH Medicaid claims, leaving a shortfall of approximately $5.6 million dollars for non-GMH Medicaid claims. 

Still left untapped is approximately $61 million in federal ACA Medicaid funds that DPHSS is unable to tap due to a lack of local matching funds. All federal ACA funds expire in September 2019. This year Guam has already used $13.1 million of local funds to access $15.6 million of the ACA funds for Medicaid claims. A $10.5 million decrease in federal funds is indicated in the Governor’s 2020 budget request, and $3 million in Compact Impact funds are allocated towards Medicaid.

“With the many and current competing interests on our island, I still believe that one of our top priorities should be the health and wellness of our most vulnerable families who are eligible for Medicaid. There is an urgent need to invest in the local match requirement for Medicaid in this fiscal year, in order to access federal grant funds to pay for Medicaid claims.  If we do not prioritize this now, we may lose our opportunity to tap into those federal ACA grant funds and many of our low-income families may not get the care that they need,” stated Senator Terlaje.

She further stated, “Clearly this situation was a priority months ago and today it is a potential crisis. DPHSS has exhausted its FY19 local Medicaid appropriation with five months left unfunded and $61 million in federal funds waiting to be tapped. The government cannot afford to cover these patients without the federal match, and our community cannot afford the risks of even a temporary shutdown in health services to these patients. The government must immediately allocate additional funds to DPHSS through this bill or the bill introduced two months ago, through the Governor’s transfer authority, or by redirecting Compact Impact funds.”