April 30, 2009 — Gov. John deJongh Jr. Thursday signed into law a bill raising the maximum interest rate on bonds issued by the Virgin Islands government to finance building Diageo's planned Captain Morgan distillery on St. Croix.
The change on interest rates was "necessitated by the realities of the financial markets during this continuing economic downturn and ensures our access to an investor base," deJongh said in a Government House statement Thursday.
The interest-rate measure was tacked on as an amendment to a supplementary appropriation to pay Winston Todman Construction for work it has already done for the Department of Human Services. DeJongh also vetoed a bill that would have given the Legislature more control over the appropriation and use of federal economic stimulus funds. (See "Senate Approves Bills, Nominations.")
In issuing the veto, deJongh argued the Legislature already has access to all the information it requested, saying it is available online from the Office of Economic Recovery. Most of the money is for existing programs and so doesn’t need approval from the Legislature, and what money does need approval will go through the normal legislative approval process, according to deJongh.
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