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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeCommunityOrganizationsGRUFF Withdraws Initiative Petition

GRUFF Withdraws Initiative Petition

The members of Government Retirees United for Fairness (GRUFF) have decided to withdraw from consideration its initiative petition. This decision is a result of the very serious challenges the people of the Virgin Islands face. The two devastating hurricanes completely stymied efforts to secure the needed signatures by the Dec. 18, 2017, deadline. In fact, the hurricanes destroyed many of the petitions submitted to the Board of Elections. GRUFF could have applied to the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which has jurisdiction over the Revised Organic Act, and likely receive a three-month extension; however, due to the devastation, GRUFF withdrew the Initiative Petition from consideration.

GRUFF thanks the hundreds of voters that signed and supported the Initiative. By Aug. 15, 2017, GRUFF had submitted over 1,300 signatures on St. Croix and over 1,200 on St. Thomas.

Additionally, the recent legislation that provided FEMA with a first priority lien on Virgin Islands revenue also significantly impacted the goal and purpose of the initiative petition. GRUFF expects the Virgin Islands financial crisis to worsen. The human resource exodus, new sweeping federal tax laws and a shrinking economy require GRUFF and all government retirees and government workers paying into the system to re-evaluate how to save the system.

GRUFF now needs to refocus its attention on securing some type of congressional support for fixing the GERS system. According to Helen Hart, president of GRUFF, “We fully understand the financial challenges of our islands, but the GERS is a life line for thousands of individuals who gave the best years of their lives to our government; we cannot allow the system to fail.”

For additional information, contact GRUFF at gruff.vi@gmail.com.

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