Guam News - Guam News

Guam - Governor Eddie Calvo met with local firefighters today at the Tamuning fire station to discuss his spending cuts bill and his decision to remove the provision that would cut firefighter benefits.

 In a packed fire station Governor Calvo defended his original plan to cut firefighter benefits saying that the cuts are necessary in order to cut GovGuam's deficit. The governor told firefighters that the only reason he has agreed to remove the provision from his omnibus spending cuts bill is because senator Mana Silva Taijeron proposed an amendment that would allocate savings from the recently awarded telecommunications contract to pay for these firefighter benefits.

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"Well it's good news first of all and I'm happy that Senator Mana Silva and the governor were able to find some alternative measures to support the cuts that they were intentionally going after with the Guam Fire Department so it's a good thing,” said Garrido.

Silva-taijeron's proposal would allocate telecommunications savings to GFD. These savings are a result of a newly awarded contract to a bidder who offered telecommunications services for $1.6 million dollars less than what GovGuam currently pays.