HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Sen. Chris Duenas have butted heads once again on a bill meant to give the Legislature authority to renew and terminate declarations of public health emergency.
Duenas said he believes Leon Guerrero’s veto of Bill 7-37 is a “setback” that promotes “non transparency, unchecked executive powers and limited public participation under the current administration.”
The governor said she disagrees.
Leon Guerrero wasn’t the only one to oppose the bill. Six senators voted against it on the floor, a decision Duenas hopes will change in an attempt to override the governor’s veto.
“I hold optimism that one of the six members opposing Bill 7-37 will collaborate to reinforce our legislative authority and override the governor’s veto in a pivotal juncture,” Duenas said Saturday in a news release.
Duenas asserted that, should the veto stand, the island would be susceptible to unchecked governance.
“The erosion of our rights, the restrictions on our freedoms and the obliteration of our religious liberties entail distressing consequences that we cannot overlook,” said Duenas. “Moreover, the unchecked billions of dollars in expenditures due to the lack of proper procurement and following Open Government Law further adds to the era that perpetuates the message of, basically, ‘You have no say.'”
Leon Guerrero, when she vetoed the bill Friday, said in a letter to Speaker Therese Terlaje, “Bill 7-37 does not protect our people. It merely prioritizes the political views and preferences of the few over the safety of our community as a whole. It is for these reasons that I veto Bill 7-37.”
The governor said she contends that the people’s rights are protected under the U.S. Constitution and the Organic Act of Guam. In her letter, she referenced the 2021 case in which she was named.
“The Supreme Court of Guam determined that the Organic Act of Guam vests ultimate authority over quarantine in the governor of Guam and the Legislature’s laws related to quarantine cannot overrule the governor’s quarantine regulations,” Leon Guerrero said.
The governor also pointed out that “the Emergency Health Powers Act already provides that the Legislature may terminate an emergency declaration at any time by a majority vote.”
Bill 7-37 is Duenas’ second attempt to pass a bill to give the Legislature authority to renew and terminate a declaration of a public health emergency. The bill is an enhanced version of Bill 11-36, which was introduced by Duenas during the 36th Guam Legislature amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health emergency.
Leon Guerrero said the “new bill is based on the same false premise as the last bill — that a declaration of a public health emergency somehow suspends or terminates the strict application of the … Constitution.”
Lou Leon Guerrero
Chris Duenas
