Bob’s Office Annual Report for 2003

$89,257.52!

For calendar year 2003 Bob’s Office saved $89,257.52 of your money. Each minority senator was allotted a budget of $186,176.22 for the 2003 calendar year. Bob’s Office spent about 52% of its budget – thus the savings of $89,257.52 of your money.

It’s your money, not mine!

Bob’s Office is small and cheap: $664 per month with only a staff of two. The office is open from 7am to 7pm during the week and most Saturday afternoons. To see the online spreadsheet of Bob’s Office expenses for 2003, click here. What you will see is a senator doing the work with as few of your dollars as possible.

Many Tools. Few Comforts.

You pay me to do a job, not gather perks unto myself. Bob’s Office is a great place to work . . . but a terrible place to sit around and gab. You’ll see computers (for our paperless office, which means no expensive photocopy machine leases) to do work, but no sofas with soft cushions to relax on. No kitchen. No “private offices” in which to have “private conversations.” No big, expensive conference room to show off, nor big, expensive senator’s office. All office furniture is GovGuam property transferred from the Guam Legislature.

ZERO!

No new furniture was bought with government funds. (Why buy new when the Legislature has plenty of old furniture, chairs and desks?) My desk is an old five drawer government desk that had to be raised three inches with wooden blocks.

ZERO!

That’s the number of off island trips I took on your nickel. Zero is also the number of legislative sessions I missed in 2003.

ZERO!

… is also the number of annual GovGuam budgets I voted for. During the development of the two budgets this legislature passed, I vigorously advanced three priorities (education, health and public safety), preferring, for example, to spend money on police rather than New Year’s Eve fireworks. I have supported adequate education and police budgets, salary increments for teachers and nurses, and an emergency appropriation for school repairs and insurance. My approach has been to adequately fund education, health and public safety and stop funding the non-essential. Obviously, the budgets advanced and passed by the majority missed the mark on the three priorities and therefore did not get the support of the responsible legislative minority.

ZERO!

The amount spent on office janitorial services. My wife and I clean the office.

ZERO!

Number of legislative session days I missed. It’s also the number of votes I missed. I am a member of the Committee on Judiciary and Transportation and the Committee on Youth & Senior Citizen, Federal & Foreign Affairs, Veterans & Military Affairs, Human & Natural Resources. I have attended all the hearings held by those committees and most of the hearings conducted by the other committees.

ZERO!

The number of votes I cast in favor of issuing bonds to create more long term debt. We don’t need to indebt ourselves to the tune of $218,309,857 for the next 20 years (P.L. 27-19) to fund current and past operations.

61

The number of my votes cast on the session floor for the public laws passed in 2003.
For more information on how I voted, click here.

2

Volunteers who contribute their time and efforts to Bob’s Office.

Priorities Matter.

I introduced … the “Priorities in Government Act” that places education, health and public safety as priorities, and allows the governor to reorganize the government and privatize functions.
More on Bill 147

… the “Every Child is Entitled to an Adequate Public Education Act” which makes education the top priority of the government and holds government officials accountable.
More on Bill 162

… and recognizing that teachers spend their own money to do their jobs the “Teacher Appreciation Act” provides teachers a tax rebate up to $500.
More on Bill 222

Reforming Government.

$449,796 – that’s how much has been deposited into the Public School Library Resources Fund to purchase learning resources for school libraries. An equal amount has been deposited into a fund to hire additional revenue agents to collect taxes.

My successful effort, along with Speaker Pangelinan, in merging the Passport Office into the Department of Revenue and Taxation, and using the fees from issuing passports for these two funds, is producing good results. The Department of Education will use that money, and future money, to purchase resources for school libraries; and the Department of Revenue and Taxation has hired more revenue agents to collect taxes … which puts more money into the general fund … which provides more resources to education, health and public safety.
For more on Passport Reform and the Public School Library Resources Fund click here

Rolling Back Taxes.

4%. That’s what the Gross Receipts Tax would be if Bill 54 (co-sponsored by all of the Republicans) passed the Legislature. My fight for lower taxes and less government led me to introduce this bill to repeal the GRT increase and co-sponsor a measure to put the issue on the November ballot. I also supported Bill 133 that would have placed the repeal of the tax increase on the ballot for the people of Guam to decide.
For more information, click here.

Expanding Opportunities.

Less government and more private sector jobs expands and grows the economy. I supported privatization throughout the government and introduced the “Employee Owned Company Act” to allow government employees to bid for privatization contracts and become small business owners.
More on Bill 141

Remembering Our Fallen Heroes

It’s the boys, not the ocean. As a continuing gesture to our fallen heroes who liberated Guam nearly 60 years ago, I introduced the “Marine Corps Drive Rededication Act.” Marine Drive was dedicated to the United States Marines who liberated Guam in 1944. The meaning behind designating this road “Marine Drive” has been lost through the generations so much so that many visitors and residents think that the highway was named “Marine Drive” because of its proximity to the ocean. It wasn’t. We need to remember that.
More on Bill 214

Opening Up Government

Transparency in government is essential. I introduced legislation that changes Guam’s Open Government Law to include all elected as well as appointed boards. Currently the Open Government Law only applies to boards, commissions, or comparable units of the government whose members are appointed by the Governor or appointed by the Legislature.
More on Bill 233

Communication is a Two-Way Street

You need to talk to me. I need to talk to you. That is why I have sent out 15 e-mail newsletters to you about legislation I have introduced, issues that come up during legislative sessions, and other important mattes.
To read past “FromBob” e-mails click here.

Also, to contact me by phone, see a map to the office, e-mail address, or just to send me a note about something on your mind, please see my “Contact Bob’s Office” page. My phone number is 472-9355. You won’t have to deal with someone screening your call, as I usually answer the phone myself.

Bob’s Virtual Office

Just a click away at www.bobsoffice.org. The website is designed so you can quickly find everything you need about Bob’s office. If you can’t find information on the site you think would help you, please let me know. I’ll see if I can add it for you. I’m sure you will find this site is unique from anything you’ve see from a senator before: legislation introduced, explanations of votes, news media reports, contact information, and the financial records of the office all at your finger tips plus access to the laws of Guam, bills introduced, Supreme Court opinions and other materials helpful to the understanding of government on Guam.

So there you have it, Bob’s Office Annual Report for 2003. I’ve shown you my voting record, attendance record, how I’ve spent your money and my focus on the important issues of the day Check out www.bobsoffice.org and you’ll see that I have dedicated this year to working toward a smaller, more efficient, open government that pursues education, health and public safety as its top priorities. You’ll also see that this work was accomplished in a very frugal way. It’s your money, not mine.

Please give me a call or e-mail me to discuss any issues on your mind. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts and ideas.