Legislators, Guam Women's Chamber of Commerce, others tackle business challenges

Senators joined women business leaders, policymakers, and community members Thursday to talk about business regulations, government technology, and economic development, with particular emphasis on supporting women in business.

It was the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce-hosted legislative breakfast at Crowne Plaza Resort Guam in Tumon.

Sen. Tina Muña Barnes, among the longest-serving woman senators on Guam, discussed her ongoing legislative efforts to improve health care, education, and safety on Guam.

She spoke about her collaboration with Guam Community College to develop a nursing annex at the old Public Health building, and efforts to update Guam’s energy infrastructure, including the net metering laws.

“I’m working on something that will be very good for all the ratepayers here on Guam—updating the net metering laws to give more resources back to homeowners who want to reduce power consumption and their carbon footprint,” she said.

Muña Barnes discussed her efforts to introduce new industries to the island, such as transshipment, bed and breakfasts, and the film industry “in the last 10 terms.”

“I even have my book here—transshipment, bed and breakfast, Film Office, cottage industries, food, recycling, and cannabis, which to this very day, is still not implemented,” she said.

Sen. Telo Taitague called for increased public participation in the legislative process.

“One thing that we look at as legislators is the question, ‘What can I do for you, instead of you asking what you can do for me?’” Taitague said. “We need your involvement. We need you to show up at these public hearings. If you believe in something, please show up.”

Taitague also addressed the shortage of workers available to support businesses.

“We’re finding that there are not a lot of people out there looking for jobs, or we’re losing our brain power to the mainland or other countries,” she said. “You want to build a business, but you don’t have the workforce behind it to support it. This is something we need to address.”

She discussed workforce development initiatives, including training programs with GCC.

Sen. Shawn Gumataotao shared concerns and public frustrations regarding the Department of Revenue and Taxation, specifically within its taxpayer services division.

The freshman senator shared how outdated systems and mismatched computer systems create complications for business owners when paying taxes.

“You know if you go to pay your GRTs, right? It’s not reading at [Department of Administration] when you have to do something else, and the computer system stays even though they’ve been updated, they’re not matching,” Gumataotao said. “So, the speaker [Frank Blas Jr.] said, ‘Well, if there’s a policy, then let’s try to change it so they are, in fact, reading.’”

He said improving these systems would increase business owners’ confidence in government operations and reduce costly mistakes.

“If we can improve this singular part of the operations, then things would be better for all of us in terms of the confidence that we have that when we’re doing business with the government, they’re doing their part for accountability,” he said. “On the other end, it just can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you paid three times for that.’”

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Speaker Frank Blas Jr. asked for feedback on what could be simplified or improved through legislative action.

“I think, from a business standpoint, one of the things we need to look at and are pursuing is the regulations and how they affect businesses,” Blas said. “Whether or not these regulations require legislative action, or if it’s just a matter of administrative review or something the agencies can work with.”

Blas acknowledged the frustrations business owners face with government processes.

“One of the biggest jokes, I think, we have with regard to businesses is the number of times you need to go to one-stop,” Blas said. “You need to go 20 times to get business done. So, from the very start, we have to look at that process and truly make it a ‘one-stop’ experience.”

He added that some problems might be addressed by improving agency efficiency, rather than requiring new legislation.

“I’ve heard horror stories of people wanting to start a business, but it takes months to get permits,” Blas said. “We all know of businesses that are up and ready to run, but they’ve been ready for as long as five years and still haven’t opened their doors. There are a myriad of reasons for that, and we need to address it. If we can’t address that now, how do we move forward?”

Sen. Vincent Borja spoke about the importance of technology, particularly AI and automation, in improving government operations.

“I do digital marketing on the side, is AI,” Borja said. “But I also recognize that, as a government, even with marketing and trying to use AI, everything else it needs to work with needs to be already functioning.”

Borja said while AI could enhance government efficiency, it requires a solid foundation of automated systems to be effective.

“As much as I’ve had people talk to me about using AI to improve procurement and government efficiency, there’s just so much work that still needs to be done within the government,” he said. “We can’t even do everything online, so in order for AI to work, everything needs to be automated.”

He pointed out that many government systems are still outdated.

“When I meet with the agencies I have oversight of, like GDOE, there’s a lot of back and forth that still needs to be addressed,” Borja said. “We’ve improved a lot over the past five years, especially because of COVID, but we’re still far behind compared to other regions.”

Sen. Joe San Agustin concluded the discussion by proposing a committee to review business laws and regulations.

“I got to keep business in business because it’s about the economy. It’s about you ladies,” San Agustin said. “The speaker said that we need to light a fire in the administration because there are some things that are just unreal.”

San Agustin suggested moving the one-stop shop to the Guam Visitors Bureau to streamline business processes.

“We need to make it easier for business owners. Maybe we move it down to GVB because there’s a new president out there who can help out,” he said.