Guam Senator Michael F.Q. San Nicolas took to FaceBook to announce that "as of 5 p.m. Friday, June 30, 2017 I have officially vacated the Chairmanship of the Committee on Rules and initiated the transition necessary to pass the torch to new leadership."
He said that he will continue as a senator and Chairman of the General Government Operations and Federal, Foreign, & Regional Affairs Committee.
San Nicolas claimed to have accomplished much in his tenure as the head of the important legislative committee in a very short time, including tightening up procedures for introducing bills.
"It's no longer just a committee chair at rules looking at a bill and deciding where to send it. It gets vetted by legal, it gets vetted by budget, it gets vetted for public debt if it's going to require that," he said. San Nicolas said his reforms have given legivslators greater control over how public money is to be spent and better insight into the fiscal impact of prospective legislation.
Others at the Guam Legislature charged with carrying out this process have complained privately that San Nicolas' innovations have resulted in tying the process in elaborate bureaucratic knots.
San Nicolas maintained that, "This same level of rapid system improvement, at lower cost and greater accountability, can and must be extended throughout our government. There really is no excuse for it to take forever or to 'require more funding.'"
He said, "It has been an honor working with the consummate professionals who remain in place to ensure the system continues to thrive. I look forward to bringing this same rapid outcome orientation to the rest of our government, in service to the people of Guam."
Here's what the exiting Rules Committee Chair had to say about his decision.