Tina Rose Muña Barnes Explained

Tina Rose Muña Barnes
Office:Vice Speaker of the Guam Legislature
Term Start:January 4, 2021
Predecessor:Telena Nelson
Office1:Speaker of the Guam Legislature
Term Start1:January 7, 2019
Term End1:January 4, 2021
Successor1:Therese M. Terlaje
Office2:Legislative Secretary of the Guam Legislature
Term Start2:January 5, 2009
Term End2:January 2, 2017
Predecessor2:Ray Tenorio
Successor2:Regine Biscoe Lee
Office3:Member of the Guam Legislature
Term Start3:January 7, 2019
Term Start4:January 1, 2007
Term End4:January 2, 2017
Term Start5:January 6, 2003
Term End5:January 3, 2005
Birth Date:24 August 1962
Party:Democratic
Spouse:Jake Barnes
Children:4

Tina Rose Muña Barnes (born August 24, 1962)[1] is a Guamanian politician, currently serving as her 7th term as a senator in the Guam Legislature.[2] She formerly served as the Speaker of the 35th Guam Legislature from 2019 to 2021.

Family

Tina Muña Barnes, born August 24, 1962, is the daughter of William Pereira "Bill" Muña and Ana Atoigue "Ann" Muña.[3]

Career

Barnes has worked for Public Defender Service Corporation,[4] the Law Office of Brooks and Klitzkie, Atkins Kroll Toyota, and Guam Autospot. Barnes was appointed by Governor Carl T.C. Gutierrez to serve as deputy director of the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities.

Personal life

Tina is an athlete, having played softball, basketball and volleyball in Guam, and for teams representing Guam at the South Pacific and Oceania Games in 1987, 1989 and 1991. She was a South Pacific Games Commission member in Tahiti in 1995, and Guam basketball tournament director in the 1994 Micronesian Games.[5] She is married to baseball member Jacob Cruz "Jake" Barnes and have four children (Tiffany, Coby, Jathan and Minna), including five grandchildren.

Guam Legislature

Elections

Barnes was elected to the 27th Guam Legislature in the general election of 2002. In the 2004 election, she failed to win reelection, but Barnes won a seat in the 2006 election and remained in the legislature for 5 consecutive terms. She failed to win reelection in 2016, but Barnes returned to the Guam Legislature after winning a seat in the 35th Guam Legislature, where she is currently serving as Speaker. In addition to becoming Speaker of the Guam Legislature, Muña Barnes also serves as the Oversight Chairwoman for the Committee on Public Accountability, Human Resources and the Guam Buildup.[6]

ElectionLegislaturePrimary Rank (Votes)General Rank (Votes)Result
200227th Guam Legislature5 (12,995)9 (22,187)Elected[7] [8]
200428th Guam Legislature5 (7,666)17 (13,889)Not elected[9]
200629th Guam Legislature6 (13,998)11 (18,425)Elected[10]
200830th Guam Legislature5 (7,317)10 (16,116)Elected[11]
201031st Guam Legislature2 (6,149)3 (21,149)Elected[12]
201232nd Guam Legislature4 (6,833)11 (14,746)Elected[13]
201433rd Guam Legislature6 (5,918)11 (16,635)Elected[14]
201634th Guam Legislature10 (6,896)16 (12,510)Not elected
201835th Guam Legislature5 (13,499)4 (18,885)Elected[15] [16]

Speakership

Speaker Tina Rose Muña Barnes was elected as Speaker by a majority of her Democratic Caucus, after shoring up more votes from her colleagues compared to Acting Speaker Therese Terlaje.[17] During her tenure as Speaker of the 35th Guam Legislature, and focused on improving the economy of Guam, Muña Barnes focused on implementing many of the revenue generating laws that she had passed in her tenure in the Guam Legislature.[18]

War Claims

During her first year as Speaker of the 35th Guam Legislature, coinciding with the 75th year of Guam's Liberation, Speaker Muña Barnes advocated for the compensation of Guam's World War II survivors who were abused during the Japanese occupation of Guam.[19] The Speaker, along with Legislative Secretary Amanda Shelton and Minority Leader William Castro introduced legislation July 2019 to pay off living compensable Guam victims with adjudicated claims.[19] At the request of Guam's Delegate to Congress, Congressman Michael F.Q. San Nicolas, discussion on this matter was stalled.[20] After months of waiting, Speaker Muña Barnes had called the Guam Legislature into session to address her War Claims Bill.[21] On December 20, 2019, the Speaker's measure was voted on in the Guam Legislature, which passed by a vote of 12–3 to pass.[22]

Votes on Bill 181-35!YES votes !NO Votes
Speaker Tina Muña Barnes, Vice Speaker Telena Nelson, Sens. Wil Castro, Clynton Ridgell, Jose Terlaje, Sabina Perez, Amanda Shelton, Kelly Marsh (Taitano), Regine Biscoe Lee, Joe San Agustin, Therese Terlaje, and Telo TaitagueSens. Mary Torres, James Moylan and Louise Muna
Surrounded by a roomful of World War II survivors,[23] on January 3, 2020, Speaker Muña Barnes's local legislation to pay war claims was signed into law by Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero.[24] Bill 181–35, the Speaker's War Claims Bill was signed into law as Public Law 35–61.

Public Policy Institute

As Speaker of the 35th Guam Legislature, Speaker Muña Barnes introduced legislation to create the Public Policy Institute. Having seen the successes of the program in her previous terms,[25] Muña Barnes felt that it was her responsibility to train the leaders of tomorrow.[26] The Public Policy Institute provides interns exposure to a vast network of leaders in the public and private sectors as well as to an array of professional and training opportunities for them to gain leadership, research, and work place skills and experiences. The institute is a unique and rigorous program where interns have the opportunity to learn first-hand about the island's legislative process by participating in a variety of activities from bill research and writing, organizing and conducting public policy briefings, paging, and by providing executive-level staffing. Interns may also respond to constituent inquiries, draft correspondence, and assist with general office operations. Promising students are selected from public and private schools on Guam and are placed in various offices of the Guam Legislature for an eight-week period over the fall, spring, or summer terms. Interns meet with distinguished leaders from a range of professional backgrounds. Interns also take field-trips to other branches of government in order gain a broader understanding of the three branches of government. For the 2019 cohort, 10 students from Guam's Public and Private High Schools graduated with distinction.[27]

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pacific Daily News . Candidate Profile - Tina Muna Barnes . 2006.
  2. Web site: Muna-Barnes: Not a rubber-stamp legislature. Guam Palau CNMI FSM news Pacific Island Times. en. 2019-09-11.
  3. Web site: Pacific Daily News. Tina Muna Barnes leads 35th Guam Legislature. January 7, 2019.
  4. Web site: Pacific Daily News. Tina Muna Barnes, Democrat candidate in Guam's 2018 Primary Election. August 7, 2018.
  5. Web site: Tina Rose Muña Barnes. Dem. TX. July 6, 2019. Our Campaigns.
  6. Web site: 35th Guam Legislature - Senators. www.guamlegislature.com. 2019-09-11.
  7. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2016 Election Comparative Analysis Report. June 29, 2017. Page 77
  8. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2002 Election Comparative Analysis Report. January 30, 2003. Page 80
  9. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2004 Election Comparative Analysis Report. June 8, 2005. Pages 134-146
  10. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2006 Election Comparative Analysis Report. Page 86
  11. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2008 Election Comparative Analysis Report. Page 101
  12. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2010 Election Comparative Analysis Report. January 18, 2012. Page 45
  13. Web site: Guam Election Commission. 2012 Election Comparative Analysis Report. July 5, 2013. Page 53
  14. Web site: 2014 Election Comparative Analysis Report. Guam Election Commission. June 29, 2015. Page 56
  15. Web site: Guam Election Commission. Summary Report - Primary Election 2018. September 13, 2018.
  16. Web site: Guam Election Commission. Summary Report - General Election 2018. November 23, 2018.
  17. Web site: Acting-Speaker Therese Terlaje, Tina Muna-Barnes vie for speakership. Gilbert. Haidee Eugenio. Pacific Daily News. en. 2019-09-11.
  18. Web site: Barnes: Implement vacation rental tax and other laws. Pacific Daily News. en. 2019-09-11.
  19. Web site: Ahead of Liberation Day, bill introduced for 754 war survivors' $7.5M reparations. Eugenio. Haidee V.. Pacific Daily News. en. 2020-01-04.
  20. Web site: Legislature suspends discussion on local war claims bill. 2019-08-22. Representative Michael San Nicolas. en. 2020-01-04.
  21. Web site: Speaker calls session for her own war claims bill. Kerrigan. Kevin. 2019-12-10. PNC News First. en-US. 2020-01-04.
  22. Web site: Senators pass war claims bill. Staff. Daily Post. The Guam Daily Post. en. 2020-01-04.
  23. Web site: War survivors speak up. Post. Nick Delgado The Guam Daily. The Guam Daily Post. en. 2020-01-04.
  24. Web site: $37M reparations closer to payment. Post. John O'Connor The Guam Daily. The Guam Daily Post. en. 2020-01-04.
  25. News: Shedd. Aiyana. May 29, 2020. Public Policy Institute looking for interns. Pacific News Center. October 6, 2020.
  26. News: Staff. Daily Post. May 29, 2020. Public Policy Institute offers internships. Guam Daily Post. October 6, 2020.
  27. News: Scoop. The. August 21, 2019. Public Policy Institute trains leaders of tomorrow. Guam Daily Post. October 6, 2020.