HAGÅTÑA, Guam — Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero said Friday that the Supreme Court of Guam has affirmed her constitutional authority under the Organic Act to establish hospitals and ruled that the Attorney General cannot use local law to block the expenditure of federal funds for a new hospital.
In a judgment issued the same day, according to the Governor’s office, the Court held that the Organic Act gives the Governor the power to establish, maintain and operate hospitals and public health services. The Court further ruled that the Attorney General “cannot use 5 GCA § 5150 as a veto power that prevents the Governor from expending federal funds to establish a hospital,” and that disputes over executive authority must instead be resolved through judicial review.
Leon Guerrero welcomed the ruling as a vindication of her administration’s position. “This ruling is clear, decisive, and confirms what we have maintained from the very beginning: the law does not give any Attorney General the power to unilaterally block a Governor from building a hospital with federal funds,” she said.
“The people of Guam deserve a modern hospital. Today’s ruling removes any doubt that the Organic Act grants the Governor the authority to move forward with that mission,” she said.
The Governor also said that while her administration’s legal position had been upheld, the dispute cost valuable time. “Being right does not give us back the time that was wasted while the Attorney General and the Legislature played these political and legal games,” she said. “These delays have placed federal funding at risk and reduced the amount of time available to put those funds to work for the people of Guam.”
The Governor’s office said that despite warnings the delay could jeopardize federal funding, Republican legislative leaders chose inaction while the matter moved through the courts, and raised what it called an election-year question of whether the Legislature and the Attorney General would be held accountable for obstructing the project.
Leon Guerrero said her administration is focused on moving forward quickly and maximizing the federal funding that can still be invested in a new hospital. “The Supreme Court has spoken. Our responsibility now is to move forward with urgency, mitigate the losses caused by needless delay, and build the hospital Guam deserves,” she said.