No pay raises for Guam cabinet, elected officials

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Cabinet members and elected officials in Guam’s territorial government won’t get pay raises under a new law allowed to take effect this week.

Gov. Eddie Calvo allowed a bill to lapse into law that removed a salary increase for some government officials, including political appointees.

The raises for 45 officials would have cost $1.1 million per year for elected officials.

It would have cost $157,000 for raises to be given to 36 Cabinet members and political appointees.

Calvo said the territorial Legislature could have passed bills to cut Senate salaries, but didn’t. He said he’s disappointed Cabinet members and other elected officials didn’t get just compensation.

Calvo said the bill was about politics. He is Republican, while the Legislature is controlled by Democrats.

“These unseemly ways come at the expense of principle and, above all, people,” Calvo said. “In any good organization, excellent work is rewarded.

“The Cabinet has been doing an excellent job.”

Before the raises were revoked, some Cabinet employees on the higher end of the scale would have gone from making nearly $89,000 per year to earning just more than $90,000 per year.