KOROR, Palau (July 8, 2025) — President Surangel Whipps Jr. met with members of the Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK) yesterday to present his legislative agenda for the upcoming regular session of Congress, highlighting both new and ongoing priorities. The meeting was abbreviated due to the highly anticipated gold-medal baseball game between Palau and Guam.
Whipps urged lawmakers to consider several key initiatives, including funding proposals for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. One major item is identifying local sources to replace U.S. federal funding for health services, which has been cut. He also proposed cleaning up ambiguous language in the Palau National Code, which has accumulated over the years from various legislative riders.
He also revisited a previously introduced measure to establish a Ministry of Interior—a proposal he first announced at the start of his second term. He added new items to the legislative agenda, including the digital payments bill, which would create a framework for digital payment systems like the Palau stablecoin, and a new proposal from the U.S. government for Palau to temporarily house refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
Other proposals include:
● Amendments affecting the Palau Public Utilities Corporation (PPUC),
● A proposal to extend Ministry of Education food services to include elderly and indigent residents,
●A resolution to ratify a pending contract between the National Development Bank of Palau (NDBP) and CIT for minting Palau’s commemorative coins,
● The Saudi loan agreement,
● A trademark bill aimed at strengthening property rights.
In addition, the president requested that Congress take up proposed amendments to immigration laws, such as providing notification to individuals placed on the Undesirable Alien List, and a labor rights bill that would extend protections to all workers in Palau regardless of status.
Although time constraints cut the meeting short, the OEK agreed to review the president’s agenda for a meeting at a later date.
Whipps Outlines Legislative agenda in brief meeting with OEK
