The Senate didn’t have a quorum Friday, therefore, the final reading of the supplemental budget bill for Fiscal Year 2022 of $7.4 million was deferred to today.
Less than ten senators were in attendance at the session, chaired by Senate President Pro Tem Senator Magalei Logovii.
If the bill is approved today, it will be sent back to the House where the Speaker and Representatives will review the changes.
If Representatives approve the amendments, the bill is then enrolled and sent to the Governor for approval. But if they don’t support the changes, a conference committee would be called.
House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale declined to predict whether the House would approve the Senate changes, saying he would wait and see the actual bill.
Except for $500,000 for the Fono and $1 million for infrastructure and response to the Manu’a earthquakes, down from $4 million, all the other 8 items that were proposed by the administration were deleted by the Senate. The $5.9 million that was allocated for the other items in the bill has been assigned to the Territorial Bank of American Samoa as the government’s capitalization or investment for the bank.
The Senate has also approved the two new agencies that the Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga created by executive order, Department of Corrections and Department of Search and Rescue.
The House has approved the bill establishing the Department of Corrections, while the bill to set up the Department of Search and Rescue is to go through second reading today.
The House will review appointments to the Board of the American Samoa Visitors Bureau. Director of Commerce, Petti Matila is a new appointee while Poe Mageo is being reappointed for a second term.
The Fono is to wrap up its final session for the year, this coming Saturday.
