The Pula and Pulu Administration’s proposed supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which has been submitted to the Fono totals $744,000.
The appropriation is mainly for the salaries of directors and deputy directors which the Fono had reduced or removed from the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
The breakdown of the appropriations bill is as follows:
Administrative Law Judge-$130,000
American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency-$85,000
Office of Disaster Assistance and Petroleum Management-$85,000
Office of Public Defender-$85,000
Arts Council-$80,000
Office of Property Management-$80,000
Criminal Justice Planning Agency-$80,000
Governor’s Office-$50,000
American Samoa Hawaii Office-$15,000
Technology Office-$14,000
Medicaid-$10,000
Insurance Commissioner-$10,000
Veterans Affairs-$10,000
American Samoa Resiliency Office-$5,000
Vocational Rehabilitation-$5,000
Sports Complex-$5,000
According to the administration’s proposal, changes in titles from director to manager would be made for the Veterans Affairs Office, American Samoa Resiliency Office, American Samoa Hawaii Office, and Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
The titles of deputy directors of those offices would be changed to assistant managers. It was also indicated that the director for ODAPM would be submitted for Fono confirmation.
For the Director of Medicaid, the proposal says ideally the head of this office should be a professional manager “insulated as much as possible from the political process.”
