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HomeNewsArchivesSenate Extends Deadline for Constitutional Convention to May 2009

Senate Extends Deadline for Constitutional Convention to May 2009

Sept. 30, 2008 — The V.I. Senate voted Tuesday to extend the deadline for the 5th V.I. Constitutional Convention to complete a draft constitution for the territory from Oct. 1 of this year to May 31, 2009.
The convention has struggled to produce a document in time, but delays in starting, delays in receiving funding and other factors have made it less and less likely the convention would complete the task by the deadline. (See "Convention Delegates Race Toward Elusive Deadline.")
The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1976 to allow the people of the Virgin Islands and of Guam to adopt territorial constitutions. Any constitution has to be consistent with federal law and with the U.S. constitution. The form of the government must be republican in form, with executive, legislative and judicial branches, and it must have a bill of rights. But there are few other restrictions. Itsourfuture.vi has excerpts and links to the full text of the relevant laws and much more information.
There have been four previous constitutional conventions, but no territorial constitution yet. The most recent convention was in 1980. (For a detailed history of previous conventions and extensive background information on the subject, see "V.I. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS: BACKGROUND.")
The Senate also approved a bill with supplementary appropriations of $1.8 million to the Office of the Governor and $1.9 million to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor for 2008 operating expenses. Sen. Patrick Simeon Sprauve, recently appointed to replace Sen. Basil Ottley Jr., was also formally assigned to the several committee positions formerly held by Ottley.
Present were Sprauve, Sens. Usie Richards, Shaun-Michael Malone, Terrence "Positive" Nelson, Louis Patrick Hill, Liston Davis, Carlton "Ital" Dowe, Juan Figueroa-Serville, Neville James, Norman Jn Baptiste, Ronald Russell, Carmen Wesselhoft, Celestino White and Alvin Williams. Sen. James Weber III was absent.
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