Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Instead of just shelving or rejecting administration bills, Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga suggested that lawmakers come up with a better solution than what the executive branch has proposed in order to address pressing matters for the territory.

The bills cited by the governor, speaking at last week’s cabinet meeting, include a $720,000 appropriation from the FY 2019 surplus for the construction of the new Territorial Administration on Aging facility in Tafuna next to the Territorial Correctional Facility. The House last week passed its version of the bill, while the Senate version was presented to the floor and rejected, but Senate President Gaoteote Palaie Tofau moved to keep the bill pending for future action.

The other administration bill amends the current 2% wage tax law by re-allocating 1% from the off island medical referring program to the Governor’s Health Initiative, while the other 1% remains for LBJ Medical Center operations. The House version of the bill remains in committee for another hearing, while the Senate has rejected its version of the legislation.

At the cabinet meeting, the governor said these are two important administration bills. He asked cabinet members to talk to their lawmakers about the importance of these measures and if necessary, for the executive branch to dispatch ASG witnesses to the Fono to further provide explanations on the reasons behind the Administration’s bills.

He reminds the Fono that the two bills are not seeking any new funding sources or adding any new tax burden on the community to fund these projects.

For the TAOA project, which has already started, Lolo said the protection of health and safety of the territory’s senior citizen population is very important. The governor said previously that the TAOA facility in Pago Pago is not safe.

For the health initiative, the governor said this was prompted by a request from LBJ because of their concerns over the lack of local Samoan doctors. He said there’s only about 3 Samoan doctors left at LBJ and these physicians are near retirement, leaving the hospital without Samoan doctors.

Lolo said the Fono should know that when lawmakers and cabinet members are sick they can seek medical attention in Hawaii, but 99% of the local population, if they are sick they remain on island and go to LBJ.

And it’s easy for a elderly female patient to communicate with a doctor, who is Samoan and speaks Samoan, he said, and reiterated that this is the reason why LBJ board of directors and leaders sought to have a program in place to send local Samoan students to obtain medical degrees.

The governor reminds lawmakers that it was the Fono who approved the 2% wage tax a few years ago and the current administration is only reallocating how the other 1% is used to address the shortage of Samoan doctors.

Lolo went on to dismiss claims by some in the Fono that LBJ has sufficient financial resources. He said LBJ is budgeting whatever money they get in order to operate and serve the public.

Lolo said that if the Fono sees or knows of a better solution to address these two important issues than what the administration is proposing, then by all means let the Administration know, instead of trying to reject the measures or shelve them.

He said it’s not right for the Fono to take such actions without coming up with a better solution.