The 36th Legislature on Monday approved a phased increase in the Virgin Islands’ minimum wage and advanced a $4 million streetlighting appropriation for the Water and Power Authority.
Lawmakers spent much of the day focused on a multiyear minimum wage increase they said was overdue for residents working multiple jobs, while also considering potential amendments to the WAPA streetlighting bill. Both measures ultimately passed unanimously and were sent to Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.
On a 15–0 roll-call vote, senators approved Bill 36-0030, which would raise the territorial minimum wage in three steps to $12 an hour in 2027, $14 in 2028 and $15 in 2029. The measure amends Title 24 of the Virgin Islands Code and represents the first territory-wide adjustment to the wage floor in years.
Sen. Novelle E Francis Jr. described the measure as a “sliding scale” intended to balance the needs of workers with the realities faced by employers by giving businesses time to adjust. At the current $10.50 minimum wage, a full-time worker earns about $21,840 a year. Under the proposal, annual earnings would be roughly $24,960 at $12 an hour, $29,120 at $14 an hour, and $31,200 at $15 an hour.
“Things are hard. There’s no doubt in this community things are hard,” Francis told colleagues, adding that the delayed start date and gradual increases are meant to “allow [small businesses] to catch their breath, be able to plan and allow for them to be able to actually implement this.”
Supporters argued the bill simply attempts to bring wages closer to the cost of living after years of rising prices for housing, food and utilities. Sen. Marvin Blyden Jr. recalled the backlash lawmakers faced after the last minimum wage increase in 2016 but said the Legislature has a responsibility to act.
“We always do the right thing on behalf of the people,” Blyden said. He pointed to residents who “work two, three jobs” just to stay afloat, leaving parents “not home to look at the children … they really can’t spend the time with them, and they’re on their own.”
Sen. Kurt A. Vialet said the initial increase from $10.50 to $12 an hour is modest compared with what families are already paying to get by. At $10.50, he noted, someone working 80 hours every two weeks earns about $21,840 annually; raising the wage to $12 increases that by just over $3,000.
“You’re not breaking the bank,” Vialet said. The goal, he added, is to give workers “an opportunity not to have to work two full-time jobs, but … reduce the time they’re working at the next job so that they could spend more time with the family.” He rejected arguments that the increase would drive inflation on its own, noting that “everything else was increasing while we were not increasing the minimum wage.”
Several senators placed the wage bill in a broader national context, noting a wave of minimum‑wage increases taking effect across the United States. Sen. Marise C. James cited a Forbes report noting that 19 states raised their minimum wages on Jan. 1, pushing the number of workers in states with wage floors above the federal minimum higher than those still covered by the old standard.
“Increases are necessary … to keep up with the rising cost of living,” James said.
Some lawmakers also acknowledged that many workers still earning the minimum wage are concentrated in sectors with thin profit margins. Sen. Avery Lewis said his research suggests these workers are often employed in child care and day care services. “They work hard too,” Lewis said, adding that those workers “do deserve an increase.”
Sen. Kenneth Gittens described the bill as a matter of “basic fairness and economic dignity,” arguing that too many Virgin Islands residents work full-time and still struggle to cover essential expenses. He said that when workers earn more, they are more likely to spend locally, strengthening small businesses rather than harming them.
Lawmakers also took up Bill 36-0210, which appropriates $4 million from the Virgin Islands Insurance Guarantee Fund to the Water and Power Authority for the repair, replacement and operation of streetlights across the territory. The bill, cosponsored by Francis, aims to address years of deferred maintenance that have left major roadways poorly lit.
Supporters noted that WAPA has said it needs more than $8 million to fully address the street-lighting problem and emphasized that the $4 million appropriation comes from excess insurance fund revenue, in addition to the $20 million already committed to the General Fund this fiscal year. Vialet characterized the funding as a long-overdue effort to meet basic public-safety obligations rather than a new subsidy for the utility.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Ray Fonseca proposed amending the bill to set aside $500,000 of the WAPA appropriation for a 3D mammography machine at Schneider Regional Medical Center, citing breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer‑related death among women in the territory and noting that the hospital’s current machine is out of service. “Breast cancer screenings are delayed, placing our women at significant risk of late‑stage breast cancer diagnosis,” Fonseca said.
Several senators said they supported expanding access to cancer screening but objected to diverting streetlighting funds or allocating more money to hospitals, arguing that hospitals had not demonstrated sufficient accountability.
Francis acknowledged that funding a mammography machine is “equally important,” but argued that Bill 36‑0210 was not the right vehicle. “There was no discussion in terms of utilizing this particular measure for that purpose,” he said, urging that such proposals be developed openly. “Let’s have the discussion, let’s communicate, let’s collaborate and come up with a compromise. But we can’t just have an ambush in the night.”
Ultimately, the mammography amendment was not adopted, leaving the full $4 million in the WAPA bill. Later, senators returned for an evening session to consider a series of riders added to Bill 36‑0210. Lawmakers adopted amendments tightening background‑check requirements for health care licensing boards, adding a definition of “serious illness” to leave policy, cleaning up outdated references in the Virgin Islands Code, and authorizing a permanent structure at the Capitol to house the cremains of Alma B. Ottley alongside those of Earl B. Ottley. With those changes in place, the bill passed unanimously, 15‑0.
Senators also advanced attorney Pedro Williams as a judge of the Superior Court’s St. Thomas–St. John Division, citing his decades of legal practice and community service. They approved a resolution honoring U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho for his role in securing a historic increase in the federal rum cover‑over tax reimbursement to $13.25 per gallon, designated Jan. 27, as St. John’s Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise Day, and approved lease agreements for WSTA Radio and St. John Taxi Services Corporation
