In a vote of 14- 3, the House yesterday confirmed the governor’s appointment of Uelinitone Tonumaipea as ASG Treasurer, with the final decision resting with the Senate — it is holding a committee confirmation hearing this morning and a vote by the full Senate is expected to follow thereafter.

Tonumaipea went through the confirmation process late Tuesday morning before the House Ways and Means Committee, with House Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui Jr., commending the Treasurer-nominee for his service to the government in the last four years of the Lolo Administration, in which he was ASG Treasurer. 

And if there were past problems, Fetui suggested that these be addressed and reminded Tonumaipea of the Lolo and Lemanu’s campaign motto — “People First”.

Rep. Vesi Talalelei Fautanu Jr. said payment of subsidies to semi autonomous agencies, such as LBJ Medical Center and the American Samoa Community College, has been a serious issue in the past because subsidies have not been paid in full.

Tonumaipea reminded lawmakers that approval of subsidies, which are included in the annual budget, is only “forecast” and government spending depends on collections; and if collections do not meet obligations then ASG pays priorities first, such as payroll.

Asked as to the reason ASG does not meet its collections forecast, Tonumaipea said there are a lot of reasons. For example, in the last fiscal year, ASG no longer received a tax payment of about $4 million from Michels (the US based contractor for the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority’s multi million dollar BLAST project, which is completed.)

Regarding collections for the current FY 2017, Tonumaipea explained that the first quarter is usually very slow, meaning low collections, while collections in the second quarter are usually high.

The Treasury Department said in a report presented to the governor last December that the department “identified the shortfalls and deficiencies in our overall collection” — but “we have also identified and recommended solutions to address these shortages with the continued implementation of corrective measures.” (See Samoa News edition Jan. 17, which includes collections for FY 2016 compared to previous fiscal years.)

Rep. Vailoata Eteuati Amituana’i asked about the status of an ASG comptroller and transferring back to Treasury Department the Payroll Division, which has been under the Department of Human Resources for about two years.

For the comptroller, Tonumaipea said this post is still vacant and it’s very difficult to recruit qualified Certified Public Accountants from the US for this post, because of the low salary offered here — about $85,000 annually — compared to the US salary of about $200,000 a year.

Regarding the Payroll Division, Tonumaipea said the governor made this decision and any changes will have to come from the governor.

Another lawmaker asked about re-starting the payroll deduction to make it easy for ASG employees to pay their bills, and Tonumaipea said the Payroll Division is under DHR, which should be asked about this issue.

Asked by the committee about his vision for the Treasury Department in the next four years, Tonumaipea first pointed out that in the two-and-half years that he has been Treasurer during the Lolo Administration, ASG was in the “black” instead of in the “red”.

And he strives to ensure that the government is never in the “red” during his watch, because it’s important for ASG to remain in the “black” at the end of every fiscal year. Additionally, he doesn’t want a bad name for the government for being in the red.

Tonumaipea also said the government has been in the “black” in the last two fiscal years due to strict control of the ASG budget. (Tonumaipea took over the ASG Treasurer post in mid 2014 after the late Treasurer Falema’o ‘Phil’ Pili.)

Rep. Sataua Dr. Mataese Samuelu asked what he describes as a “hypothetical” question, on whether it’s appropriate for Customs to testify on cases involving drugs, which were first caught by Customs agents, when they go to court. He believes police shouldn’t be the only ones to testify.

Although the committee chairman, Rep. Lavea Legae’e Mauga, interjected saying that a confirmation hearing was not the appropriate time for such a question, Tonumaipea did provide a reply, saying that when Customs confiscates drugs, the case is turned over to police. And if the case does goes to court, Tonumaipea believes Customs should be called to testify as a witness for the government.