The 36th Legislature convened its first session on Monday during a turbulent time for the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Revenues in 2024 fell below the mark, leaving vendors unpaid and frustrated. The Water and Power Authority inched toward sustainability during a monthslong state of emergency declared in April — and the 35th Legislature voted against renewing the state of emergency during its final session in December, and a loss of power briefly cast Monday’s session into darkness before generators kicked in.
The past two weeks have been particularly bruising. Virgin Islanders were alarmed to learn this month that salaries for high-ranking government officials increased after recommendations from the V.I. Public Officials Compensation Commission quietly went into effect. Then, on Friday, two unsealed federal grand jury indictments against three former members of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s cabinet and one other alleged corruption, kickbacks and cronyism.
“Sen. Francis gave up this gavel so fast,” quipped incoming Senate President Milton Potter after accepting the gavel from Sen. Novelle Francis Jr., president of the 35th Legislature, on Monday in the Earle B. Ottley Legislative Hall on St. Thomas.
Potter was clear-eyed about the challenges Virgin Islanders face during an interview with the Source prior to the session.
“You can just pick one — affordable housing, health care, education, cost of living issues here in the territory — I think … right throughout the gate, we’re going to be focusing on quality of life issues, particularly the cost of living in the Virgin Islands and the pressure that it brings on the people,” he said. Potter said the Legislature will call industry representatives to “get an understanding as to why it is the way it is, and what can we do from a policy standpoint” to ease that pressure.
Potter recently pledged to convene a session of the 36th Legislature to address raises for public officials, and he told the Source that the VIPOCC indicated that senators weren’t slated for salary increases.
“I think the percentage that they put in the column was zero, so we aren’t in line to receive any salary increases,” he said. “However, it doesn’t negate the fact that we need to understand how the process unfolded the way it did concerning executive branch raises — I think there is an understanding that those raises may have been implemented.”
Potter said the Legislature had legal counsel review the applicable law to see if the matter was properly handled.
“It is valid and legitimate for us to have an objective process for determining executive level compensation — as opposed to some random, arbitrary process,” he said. “So the intent of the legislation, I think, was good. We just need to make sure that the process of executing it is properly followed.”
The subject came up several times during the subsequent session.
Sen. Marvin Blyden, who will remain as chair of the Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, exposited on the amount of work that goes into being a senator during the session and said he was glad the conversation arose because it showed him “what many people feel about and think about” lawmakers.
“It is what it is, and I understand and I respect their positions. But at the same time I’m going to continue to stay on the grind, and work hard, and go above and beyond and give 100 percent of my time,” he said. “Because you’re my bosses … but it really opened my eyes, to be honest with you, it opened my eyes. I feel a way. I feel a way. I never asked for anything.”
Sen. Kenneth Gittens, who will serve as vice president of the 36th Legislature, referred back to Blyden’s remarks minutes later.
“Although we all may deserve it, no pay raises at this time,” he vowed. “No pay raises for top level government officials until the economic landscape of this territory changes for the better of us all.”
The indictments of former high-ranking officials contained multiple transcripts of recorded conversations. In one, Benjamin Hendricks — owner of the St. Thomas-based environmental consulting firm A Clean Environment — was recorded telling a convicted felon seeking a lucrative government contract that he “made a phone call to an individual. Actually, one of, one of, one of the senators. And he said, ‘Benji, don’t worry about it.’”
Asked about that episode and the role of ethics more broadly in the 36th Legislature, Potter referenced efforts by the 35th Legislature to establish an ethics commission to address such violations. Potter called the alleged actions “a blight and a stain on the whole manner in which the public views the public sector.”
“So I am in support of whatever the harshest punishments may be to disincentivize anyone who holds the big responsibility of being a voice for the public from taking advantage of public resources,” he said. “Having steps in place, having clear laws delineating what is acceptable and what is not — and the consequences for those violations — is going to be a huge item that we’re going to be looking at in the 36th Legislature.”
Gittens, who sponsored that legislation, said during Monday’s session that he would “continue to champion legislation to address this type of behavior that has no business in our government.”
Speaking to the Source, Sen. Novelle Francis Jr. said the indictments were evidence of the judicial system — and democracy — at work. Referencing his 25-year career as a law enforcement officer, Francis said local authorities work collaboratively with the federal government.
“There’s task forces that’s created, and … local individuals that have been cross-designated to work along with the federal system,” he said. “These task forces were created for that purpose, for us to have joint investigations done.”
Francis noted that the federal government has a long reach and a powerful tool in the grand jury system “that we don’t have in the local courts.”
One of those indicted last week — Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White — resigned. Assistant Commissioner Vincent Roberts will fill the role in an acting capacity. Vetting White’s permanent replacement may well be the first big undertaking of the Rules and Judiciary Committee of the 36th Legislature, which will be chaired by Sen. Carla Joseph.
Joseph told the Source that she is hopeful that the committee “will have some intentional discussion, ask the hard questions of nominees that are coming before us, and ensure that everything is properly vetted in the Committee on Rules and Judiciary.”
“It’s a very critical component — one of the best committees to serve on, and one of the hardest committees to also chair,” she said. Joseph said the second and fourth Thursdays of every month have been designated for Rules and Judiciary. Joseph said the 35th Legislature established a precedent for nominees to take an oath before appearing before the committee.
“And if you perjure yourself, there are consequences for doing that. If they’re telling something that is incorrect, is not right, and they’re trying to … lie or misrepresent the truth, there are consequences to that once we administer that oath,” she said. “So that’s something that the 35th Legislature put in place, and it will be continued this legislative term.”
Sen. Dwayne DeGraff highlighted the importance of providing a check on the central government during Monday’s session. Several of the 35th Legislature’s grievances over the conduct of the Bryan-Roach administration appear poised to carry over into the 36th Legislature, including the use of appropriations for retroactive wage payments to government employees to make payroll.
“This body — not once, but twice — put forward monies for retroactive payments. What happened to them?” Gittens asked. “This is what the minority leader was talking about, about being the first branch of government. It’s time for us to stand up and stand out as the first branch of government when we put forward laws of the land.
“If they are not followed, that’s why we have a third branch of government,” he said, referencing the judicial branch.
Francis, who will chair the Budget, Appropriations and Finance Committee, said he hopes the executive branch will “do the right thing in these matters” but that judicial action — or the “nuclear option” — may be required when laws aren’t adhered to.
“A lot of times, our reluctance to that is because of the time it takes for us to do that. It’s also a costly venture for us to do these matters,” he said. “But it is what it is, and at the end of the day we have to be able to fulfill the needs of our community. So if that’s what we have to do, that’s what we have to do.”
Francis said that one priority of his committee will be ensuring that federal funds are drawn down by the Virgin Islands government in a timely manner, easing the burden borne by the local government’s General Fund.
“It’s critical that we’re able to draw down on those federal monies so that we can put back into the general fund coffers to help to fill some of the shortfalls that we’re seeing in our revenue collection,” he said.
