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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesRULES COMMITTEE APPROVES FOUR NOMINEES

RULES COMMITTEE APPROVES FOUR NOMINEES

The Senate Rules Committee unanimously approved the nominations of four Cabinet nominees Thursday in a session that stretched into the evening.
The four were acting Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds, acting Fire Service Director Pedro Encarnacion, acting Agriculture Commissioner Henry Schuster and acting Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett.
The four were quizzed about spending, federal funding for programs and revenue generation, according to the V.I. Independent.
Simmonds and Plaskett specified areas where federal funding should be targeted.
Plaskett said he had identified vacant positions that could be federally funded within his department. He also pledged to reorganize DPNR to reduce the number of highly paid unclassified positions — 99 out of 305 total for the department — and consolidate costly offices.
Simmonds said she hoped to use federally funded programs to improve physical facilities, according to the Daily News.
Encarnacion said he wanted to begin charging for fire inspections, which could generate up to $400,000 in new revenues. He also said though overtime had been reduced over the last few months, it would not stop entirely
"because we have a mandate to protect the public safety."
Schuster said the Agriculture Department needs to aggressively pursue markets for produce grown here. He also said fishermen need to be assisted and explained that though the fishery program had been put under the department's aegis, it had no staff, guidance or money.
The Rules Committee adjourned at 9 p.m. without addressing the bill on semi-autonomy for the territory's hospitals. It will be placed on the agenda for the next Rules Committee meeting, according to the media.

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