Guam lawmakers press Customs on unspent appropriations and access to FY25 lapses

Chair (unnamed) and senators at a legislative oversight hearing on Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency pressed agency leaders on a persistent disconnect between appropriations and money reaching the field, focusing on prior-year ‘‘lapses’’ and the agency’s ability to access funds for modernization and retention.

Vincent Perez, chief of Guam Customs and Quarantine, told the committee his agency has relied on current appropriations while some FY25 lapse items have not been made available: “For the past 13 years, we've been operating at $8.29, at least on the passenger side,” Perez said while urging authority to adjust rates and pursue other revenue mechanisms to support recruitment and retention.

Senators questioned whether the absence of continuing-appropriation language or DOA/BBMR loading procedures prevented access to lapse funds. Senator Mosley noted committee records showing available lapse amounts and asked why BBMR would not load the funds; agency staff said BBMR had informed them that no lapses were available to transfer despite executive-branch reports indicating otherwise. An ASO official clarified that, aside from a 1.3 million allotment tied to an automation project, most current allotments were loaded but that the specific FY25 lapse funds remained inaccessible.

Committee members pressed CQA to include specific funding requests in its upcoming budget submission and to pursue administrative remedies now, rather than rely solely on legislation. The chair directed CQA to submit a retention-implementation plan that could be evaluated within the current budget, and urged agency leaders to send formal letters to the Office of Finance and Budget (OFB) and the Bureau of Budget Management and Research (BBMR) to clarify and resolve funding-loading issues.

The panel emphasized oversight of both DOA and GSA procurement practices as a follow-up priority, citing repeated procurement bottlenecks that have slowed equipment acquisitions and modernization. The chair concluded that while resources exist in executive records, the record shows a ‘‘serious disconnect between funding and execution’’ and said the Legislature will request documents, timelines and deliverables to ensure appropriations reach operational needs.

What happens next: senators said they will request written documentation of the disputed loading decisions, expect timelines for fund transfers, and plan follow-up oversight with DOA and BBMR to ensure CQA can execute appropriations for frontline border security work.