Summit: Reminding parents to make time Tafuna Warriors’ June Canales for their children 3 in action against Fa’asao-Marist Cougars on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011 at Kanana Fou Theological FONO: House rejects Seminary. Canales scored the Senate amendments only goal in her team’s 1-0 win. Playoffs are Saturday, Feb. 19, to wage tax bill… 2 with the post-season scheduled for C M Feb. 26 at Kanana Fou Theologi- Y K cal Seminary, Afterschool program [FFAS MEDIA] marks Week 10 with co-ed tournament B1 Visit us online at samoanews.com PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011 $1 Everyday W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W First ASG pay with reduced Le hours to be released today by Fili Sagapolutele the year because the Fono does not convene L a l i Samoa News Correspondent throughout the year,” said two employees when The first government paychecks reflecting the contacted Wednesday. reduction of working hours for Executive Branch Several employees contacted by Samoa News Solofua le moliaga employees with salaries funded by local rev- this week for comments all voiced their anger over enues are expected to be released today instead the Fono not acting on any of the bills sent by the of Monday, a government holiday. governor to cover the shortfall — as well as their faasaga i se alii leoleo Reduction of hours, which became effective on disappointment that Fono employees are not af- Feb. 6 until further notice, has employee hours re- fected. None of them, however, wanted to be iden- tusia Ausage Fausia duced depending on salary level. For example, em- tified by name for fear of retribution. Ua talia e le Faamasinoga Faaitumalo le talosaga na faaulu e ployees paid up to $20,800 a year have four hours “It’s so very, very unfair. We are doing our le malo o Amerika Samoa, ina ia solofua le moliaga na tu’uaia ai reduced and those getting paid more than $62,400 job and why are we being punished?” said one le alii leoleo o Savelio Vaofanua, ina ua le mafai e le malo ona annually will have 12 hours cut per paid period. employee, who has worked for ASG for 10 faamaonia lea moliaga. Because Monday is a local and federal gov- years and is getting a six hour reduction per pay O Vaofanua na tu’uaia e le malo i le moliaga mama o le ernment holiday, the ASG payroll will be re- period. faatupu vevesi i nofoaga faitele, ona o se faalavelave na tula’i mai leased today, reflecting the reduction of hours for Senate President Gaoteote Tofau Palaie told i le po o le aso 8 Oketopa i luma o le Rubbles i Nu’uuli. those employees working for the Executive Samoa News that the Fono leaders cannot act on Na taua e le loia na tula’i mo le malo, o Nicholas Deganhart, Branch, including cabinet directors. the issue of Fono employees until lawmakers ina ua maea ona iloilo e le malo mau faamaonia o lenei mataupu, Several ASG employees affected by the cuts have completed their review of the administra- na manino mai ai e le mafai ona faamaonia le gaioiga o loo tu- are very disappointed that they are suffering tion bills sent to cover the shortfall. uaia ai Vaofanua. along with their families, while Fono employees Some executive branch employees are ex- Na taua e le malo, o Vaofanua na ia taumafai e fesoasoani i le — also fully funded by local revenues — are still empt from the cuts, including classroom teach- isi alii lea na to’alua atu ma le alii na manu’a i le faalavelave lea. getting a full paycheck. ers, school bus drivers and those paid by federal Na talia e le alii faamasino ia John Ward II le talosaga a le malo e “It’s so very unfair to many of us at the ex- grants, which the governor has said several times tusa ai o lenei mataupu, lea fo’i e le’i faatuiese i ai loia a le ua molia. ecutive branch when nothing is done to Fono are not affected. (faaauau itulau 20) employees, who don’t have to work throughout (Continued on page 14) With their eye on the prize, students prepare for the 17th annual Territorial Spelling Bee by Teri Hunkin Samoa News staff If you absolutely, positively had to spell the word croissant, could you do it? How about cerise? Chihuahua? appoggiatura? C M Let’s see, we have a rich, flaky pastry, a deep red color, a tiny Y K (noisy) dog, and a musical note with an Italian name... and if it meant winning the National Spelling Bee... you would want to know the correct spelling of those words, and most likely their definitions and language of origin, as these were some of the win- ning words down through the years of the Scripps National Spelling Bee which began in 1925 in Louisville, Kentucky and continues to this day in the nation’s capitol. In order to qualify for the national event, which is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational promotion, according to All the ECE Fagaitua students visited the Senate Chamber yesterday and were greet- the official website (www.spellingbee.com), a challenger must ed by the senators. (L-R) Sen.Asuega Fa’amamata, Sen. Velega Savali Jr. and Sen. Alo have won a local or regional spelling bee. Paul Stevenson. [photo: Lemoe Tulafono] (Continued on page 14) Pa g e 2 • samoa news, Frid a y , Fe b rua ry 1 8 , 2 0 1 1 FONO Hardware American Samoa’s Helpful Place. BRIEFS Malaeimi 699-9770 by Fili Sagapolutele Samoa News Correspondent HOUSE REJECTS SENATE MondayMonday onlyonly AMENDMENTS TO WAGE TAX BILL DAY The House has rejected amendments made by the Senate to its version of the administration wage tax bill but a final decision will 1 ONLY not be made until lawmakers return next month, following a two week 1 FebruaryFebruary 2121 st st mid session recess. Senate amendments to the bill reduce the wage tax from 4% to 2%; add provisions requiring all revenues collected from the tax be ap- propriated by the Fono and make the bill effective on the date when 8:00am8:00am –– 2:00pm2:00pm the governor signs the bill into law. These are identical amendments to the Senate version of the bill pending in the House Ways and Means Committee. House members were informed yesterday in a Senate communique about the House version approved by senators— with amendments— which House members rejected. But with the Fono closing yesterday for the mid session recess there was no time to call a conference com- mittee to iron out the final language of the bill. Instead the House opted to wait until the Fono reconvenes on Mar. 7 to call for a conference committee of both chambers. Samoa News understands that the senators are firm on their stand to keep the amend- ments and will not budge. The government estimates it would collect some $7.4 million from the 4% wage tax. TORT LIABILITY BILL INTRODUCED IN THE FONO The governor’s bill amending local law by limiting the liability of the American Samoa Government and all recovery which may be had against ASG to $100,000 in every claim under the Government Tort Liability Act was introduced yesterday in both the Senate and House. According to the bill’s preamble, limiting the liability will ensure and preserve the continuance and maintenance of sufficient resources and monetary assets necessary to fund ASG and the basic and indis- pensable services and programs it offers and provides to the public through its now existing offices, departments, semi-autonomous agen- cies and employees. Additionally, the bill, says, it will decrease the threat of harm to the public caused by disruption or discontinuance of necessary gov- ernment services and programs due to the appropriation of substantial amounts of government funds for the payment of sizable and signifi- cant judgements against the ASG and its offices, departments and se- mi-autonomous agencies. This is the second time that the governor has submitted the pro- posal for Fono approval. The first time was late March of last year and it came at a time when the High Court ruled in favor of Progressive Insurance against ASG over the fire that destroyed the old Laufou Shopping Center in 2002. The court awarded Progressive $6.5 million but the case was sent back to the trial court following an appeal. One of the biggest concerns for ASG as well as senators in the past have been the frequent lawsuits filed against the LBJ Medical Center, who is represented by ASG in any civil action suits. CALL FOR REVIEW OF TERRITORY’S POWER NEEDS FOR THE FUTURE StarKist Samoa has called on the Senate to get a better under- standing of American Samoa’s power or utility needs for the future as American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) works on rebuilding a new power plant, to replace the one destroyed by the 2009 tsunami. The cannery general manager’s Brett Butler made the brief com- ment on Tuesday during a Senate ASPA/Territorial Energy Office Committee hearing, when he was asked by Sen.