5 Guam Code Ann. § 6303
Terms Used In 5 Guam Code Ann. § 6303
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
(b) The government of Guam may use any funds authorized for general operations to purchase property insurance to cover
the loss, for any reason and by any cause, incurred by the government, or by any appropriate line agency or autonomous agency, of any property owned by the government. Any monies recovered pursuant to this subsection shall be used for the repair or replacement of the facilities insured, and if the facilities are not to be repaired or replaced, then the funds shall be deposited in the General Fund. Such insurance coverage may cover the general government or any appropriate portion, agency, autonomous agency or specific facility thereof.
(c) The authority given by this Section shall be in addition to any authority for the purchase of insurance given by any other law of Guam.
(d) No insurance company writing insurance pursuant to this Section shall have a defense of sovereign immunity if sued directly by a claimant unless the government, itself, would have such a defense.
SOURCE: Added by P.L. 17-029:1 (Nov. 9, 1983) as § 6500.32. Codified as 5 Guam Code Ann. § 6303.
COMMENT: Under an old Attorney General’s Opinion (pre-1970), the government cannot purchase any insurance unless specifically authorized by law. This Section provides that authorization, both for liability and for property insurance. The lack of this section caused much argument and delay, and even potential loss of funds, after Typhoon Pamela when one requirement of the federal relief funds for construction was that the finished construction be adequately covered by insurance against typhoon damage. Guam is “”self-insured””, but only barely so and not really self- insured as there is no fund created nor means of replacing damaged property other than by general appropriation. This section provides a means by which claims of the government can be paid promptly.