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SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET PASSES SENATE
Funding included for Anti Litter, Textbooks and Vocational Education Scholarships – Budget $3 million less than Governor's proposal
(Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, May 11, 2004) A bi-partisan bill which altered the supplemental budget version Governor Charles Turnbull proposed last week passed the senate with twelve voting in favor and two voting against.
The controversial appropriations bill included $11.8 million for outstanding union negotiated contracts; $500,000 for Anti Litter and Beautification's summer youth program and other operating expenses; $1.5 million dollars for textbooks; $140,000 for the Little League Tournament in September; $29,300 to the Vocational Education Board for the Albert Ragster, Sr. Scholarship Fund and $10,000 to the same board for the James Albert Petersen, Jr. Scholarship Fund.
"I am pleased that my colleagues and I supported initiatives for education and youth opportunities, to include the over five million dollars for the Department of education, monies for textbooks, vocational education and sports programs," Senator Malone said.
"But more importantly, the Legislature has worked hard to eliminate part of the overall long-term debt to the Virgin Islands Government by identifying monies to satisfy current negotiated union contracts and the revenue sources to sustain them," Senator Malone said. "Monies owed to unions represent the single largest and fastest-growing debt to our government. We had to re-establish this government's priorities to meet both the short and long-term financial problems we continue to struggle with," Senator Malone explained. The monies identified to pay the unions will be coming from the following sources:
· 50% of the excess revenues generated in the fiscal year 2004 over 2003 to be deposited into the Union Arbitration Award and Government Employees Increment Fund;
· five million dollars ($5,000,000) to be appropriated from the amounts collected from the Infrastructure Maintenance Act under Title 33 VIC Chapter 11, and the AFT raises ($2.68 million) coming from the General Fund, which were identified by the Administration as salaries that can be sustained.
· monies earmarked to reimburse the payroll ($5.5 million);
· monies to establish the Waste Management Authority ($2 million; and
· $1.5 million from the General Fund.
Monies were also appropriated to fund badly needed upgrades to the
Department of Finance Financial Management System (FMS) and over
$4 million dollars in expenditure cuts to the current fiscal year budget.
"I respectfully ask the governor to sign Bill 25-0200 into law so that we can move forward with the business of this government. It should be palatable to him since the Legislature passed a supplemental budget in the amount of $589 million – $3 million less than the amount the Governor proposed," Senator Malone concluded.
