Guam lawmakers clash over cuts to behavioral health services and DISID amid FY27 budget debate

The Committee of the Whole of the Guam Legislature spent several hours on chapter 3 of the FY27 substitute budget scrutinizing cuts to the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center and the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities (DISID).

Senator Barnett pressed Director Guerrero of the Office of Finance and Budget over a roughly $2.9 million reduction to contract funding versus the executive budget request, saying the change risks cutting level-2 residential services, a drop-in center for people experiencing homelessness, youth therapeutic group-home beds and mobile crisis response. "You're telling us one thing, and they're telling us the opposite," Barnett said, arguing agency leaders had told lawmakers that federal funding losses required emergency local support.

Director Guerrero said OFB had reviewed agency requests and the administration’s revenue assumptions before proposing the substitute numbers. He told senators the committee’s FY27 allocation preserved fixed costs such as personnel and utilities while trimming contract lines where necessary, and argued that in many cases agency directors told OFB they would "work with whatever levels you provide us in the appropriation bill." Guerrero cautioned lawmakers that the executive budget had shown a substantial gap and that recent revenue choices, including a half-percent business privilege tax rollback, reduced the pool available for agency requests.

Lawmakers countered with program-level data and human-impact arguments. One senator cited a Guam 988 lifeline workload of roughly 30,000 calls and a local suicide rate cited in committee testimony as about 25.4 per 100,000—figures lawmakers said underscored the risk of reducing crisis services. Senators also raised waiting lists for methamphetamine detox and other treatment capacity constraints.

DISID was the next focus. OFB characterized the agency’s "organic growth" (payroll increments, utilities, retirement adjustments) as small—about $60,000—but DISID asked for roughly $1.8 million to expand in‑home care stipends (noted as serving about 141 people), open a southern adult day-care site and increase local matches for vocational rehabilitation. Multiple senators warned that the substitute budget’s limits would force cuts in hours and days of in‑home services and block planned expansions for residents in southern villages.

Senators repeatedly framed the reductions as choices: whether the legislature will prioritize tax relief or restore funding for core behavioral health and disability services. Several members said they planned to file or support amendments during miscellaneous provisions to restore or add funding. The committee moved to the amendment phase after extended questioning; several senators signaled they would press for line-item changes or supplemental appropriations later in the process.

The committee recessed for further amendment consideration and procedural work; lawmakers indicated votes on specific amendments and supplemental proposals would follow in the amendments and miscellaneous sections of the bill.