Fono Briefs
by La Poasa
and Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Staff
NOMINATION
OF GAEA P. FAILAUTUSI AS TREASURER INTRODUCED
The governor's
nomination of Gaea Perefoti Failautusi as ASG Treasurer was introduced
yesterday in both the Senate and the House.
The Senate Budget
Committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing today while
for the House Budget Committee, Thursday.
In his Jan. 30
nomination letter, Gov. Togiola Tulafono said Gaea is a product
of the local education system, graduating from the High School
of American Samoa (Samoana High School) and then the American
Samoa Community College, where he earned an Associates of Science
in both Accounting and Business Administration.
Gaea has 34 years
of working experience with ASG in the fields of auditing, accounting,
budgeting, supervisory management and automated financial management
system, according to his resume.
He had served
as senator for the Tualauta District and worked as an independent
contractor (financial analysist) from 1997-1998 with the Senate
Selection Committee on Government Finance and Operations.
Gaea is a deacon
for the CCCAS-Vaitogi church and was also a member of the CCCAS
Finance Committee from 1995-2003.
"I have
no doubt that if confirmed...Gaea will execute his duties as
Treasurer competently and without hesitation," said Togiola.
"His work experience and service to the people of American
Samoa more than justify this appointment."
SENATE DISCUSS
FEDERAL JURISDICTION
Exactly where
does territorial law begin and end vis-a-vis federal laws? This
was the question raised yesterday in the Senate, in light of
the number of federal agencies having jurisdiction in the territory
and imposing their regulations locally.
With a proposal
of having a federal district court established in American Samoa,
Sen. Alo Dr. Paul Stevenson said this federal court issue - which
will be discussed during a U.S. subcommittee hearing later this
month - "has a lot of relevance" on the subject of
where does our local laws begin and where does federal law take
over.
He said federal
agencies are imposing fines here and if one wants to dispute
these fines, where does the individual go - local courts, Washington
or San Francisco?
Alo said we need
to understand this issue fully.
Sen. Tuitele
T. Tuitele said the issue of federal jurisdiction is "a
very complex issue". He said as it stands, we are under
the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior, and we report
to them.
He said we've
seen a good number of federal agencies enforcing their policies
locally.
For example,
he said the Transportation Security Administration, which is
part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has a lot of
authority with what goes on at the local airport to the extent
that they can close down the airport if they see any concerns.
He said even
the U.S. Coast Guard has the authority to close down our port.
He also said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are now
issuing fines to local businesses, yet, we have our local EPA
office here.
Tuitele said
we need to be clear on where the laws of the territory end and
where federal laws begin because it may be piecemeal at present,
but pretty soon the whole territory will be governed by federal
laws.
Sen. Pulefa'asisina
P. Tuiasosopo said it's not a question of whether the Fono understands
the issue of federal jurisdiction but does the public have an
understanding of it especially if the public goes to the ballot
to vote on the federal district court proposal.
Pulefa'asisina
said the public, just like the Fono, needs to understand this
matter because it has serious ramifications on the territory's
future.
Senate President
Lolo M. Moliga said this is another issue that the Senate legal
staff has been requested to research.
Sen. Tuana'itau
F. Tuia said he wants Senate special legal counsel Roy Hall Jr.,
to be involved in this research. Lolo responded that Hall may
be called for assistance if needed.
ARTS FESTIVAL
House Speaker
Savali Talavou Ale will request Senate President Lolo M. Moliga
to have the House join the Senate when the Senate Government
Operations Committee hears from organizers of the 10th Pacific
Arts Festival on Wednesday about festival preparations.
This comes after
the House voted yesterday to join the Senate during their hearing,
following a request from House Retirement and Commerce Committee
chairman Rep. Archie Taotasi Soliai.
While the House
held a hearing yesterday with festival organizers, the main focus
was on the clean-up efforts, not the entire preparation.
Soliai said issues
that the Senate will be raising are the same ones that the House
wants to hear.
Savali agreed,
saying that this would also make it easy for the festival organizing
committee, not having to go back and forth between the two Fono
chambers for separate hearings.
ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITS TO FONO ADVANCE DIRECTIVE BILL
Before he left
the territory last Thursday, Lt. Gov. Ipulasi A. Sunia submitted
the Fono the 'Advance Directive Bill', a measure that he says
recognizes and validates the wishes of individuals regarding
their own health care under local laws.
In a Jan. 29
letter to the Fono leadership, Ipulasi said American Samoa's
adoption of local laws regarding advance directives is a requirement
of the Federal Patient Self-Determination Act of 1995.
"Every other
state and territory has adopted similar legislation supporting
this Act and every hospital is required to have documents available
in its admission for patients to use if they have not already
executed a living will or durable power of attorney for healthcare,"
he explained.
Ipulasi said
this legislation sets forth the procedures and guidelines for
recognizing the individual liberty of determining one's own healthcare
needs.
The measure is
now being prepared into a bill format for introduction in both
chambers.
Reach the
reporter at la@samoanews.com.
Reach the reporter at fili@samoanews.com.
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