There was another long discussion between the House and Senate on Wednesday about changes to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
Following Tuesday’s decision to remove the salaries of all agencies whose directors have not been confirmed by the Fono, and to reduce the salaries of directors of line agencies under the Governor’s Office, the chairmen of the Joint Budget Committees, Sen. Utu Sila Poasaa and Rep. Vailoata Amituanai, presented a breakdown of the affected salaries.
However, there was disagreement between House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale and Senators Magalei Logovii and Togiola Tulafono on how the salaries would be reflected in the budget.
The Speaker, going by the advice of Counsel Mitzie Jessop Taase, proposed that the Fono include the salaries in the “All Others” category of each affected department. The reasoning being that if the directors of these agencies are submitted for confirmation, funds would already be available to pay their salaries.
However, Senators Magalei and Togiola insisted that the salaries be removed from the budget altogether. They argued that if the directors are submitted for confirmation, the Governor can submit a supplemental budget to appropriate funds to pay their salaries.
They said that once the budget bill is approved, the Governor is authorized to spend the total funds and he can easily move funds from “All Others” or other allocations to pay the salaries. This would mean that the Fono’s whole objective of having the directors of these agencies confirmed by the Fono, would not be achieved.
The House Speaker pointed out that if they reduced the budget, revenues would exceed expenditures, resulting in an unbalanced budget.
According to Senator Togiola, the overage between revenues and expenditures would be considered excess revenues and the Governor can submit a supplemental budget request to appropriate these funds.
Vice Speaker Fetui Fetu said this was the Fono’s chance to correct errors from the past, specifically, to ensure that all directors are approved by the Fono.
During the back and forth discussion, Rep. Luaitaua Gene Pan said when the Governor appeared before the House and Senate, recently, he assured that unconfirmed directors would be submitted for approval. He asked whether there has been any communication from the Governor concerning the unconfirmed directors. The same question was posed by Senator Atualevao Asifoa, and the reply from the committee chairmen was no.
Noting that only four days remained before the start of the new fiscal year, Rep. Fagaima Larry Sanitoa recommended that the Fono pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating while they conduct an analysis of the director salaries.
When it appeared that the discussion would drag on without any agreement, Senator Muagututia Tauoa appealed to the Speaker and members of the House to show unity with the Senate and approve what senators Magalei and Togiola have proposed.
The Speaker then acquiesced.
According to the breakdown from the committee chairmen, the directors whose salaries would be removed from the budget are: Office of Property Management, Arts Council, American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Disaster Assistance and Petroleum Management, and Criminal Justice Planning Agency.
Salaries of directors of line agencies under the Governor’s Office to be reduced are: Veterans and Military Affairs, Spots Complex, Equal Employment Opportunity Office, American Samoa Resilience Office, Medicaid, ASG Office-Hawaii, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Insurance Commissioner.
The committee is reducing $85,000 salaries by $15,000 and reducing $70,000 salaries by $10,000.
The committee also approved reductions to funding under Special Programs to reallocate those funds for the 2026 elections, increase subsidies for the American Samoa Community College, and increase the Small Village Fund.
Senator Togiola also suggested reducing funding for former governors, pointing out that he is one of the two surviving governors but he does not get a stipend because he currently serves as a senator.
Rep. Fagaima made a last-minute plea to restore funding for Hope House, which was funded for $300,000 in the last fiscal year but only $180,000 is proposed for FY2026. This funding is used for the match for Medicaid funding. Another need that was presented was to increase funding for Swains Island transportation.
