Lawmakers of the 35th Legislature approved a three-step solution to ease financial pressures on the V.I. Water and Power Authority. Votes taken on three bills — which also include a measure to define when a state of emergency can be declared — came in rapid succession on Thursday afternoon at the end of a six-hour session.
It was the second special session called by Senate President Novelle Francis — the first was Wednesday — in the wake of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. declaring a state of emergency on Monday following more than a week of rotating power outages. Bryan said he would tap into funding to help cover the outstanding WAPA bills of the Waste Management Authority and the territory’s two hospitals, along with a $2.3 million payment to Aggreko, which leases WAPA a set of generators on St. Croix.
The public portion of Thursday’s Senate session, carried over live stream video, lasted about an hour. Francis convened the session shortly after 1 p.m., called for a two-minute recess and returned three hours later.
Before opening a round of debates among colleagues in attendance, the Senate president said they were still working on details of the measures sought as a solution. “ … I want to apologize for the delayed start. We continue to work through the legislation,” Francis said.
When the mostly closed-door session was over the body approved a bill reappropriating funds to meet WAPA’s current financial obligations; the measure also authorizes credits to be applied to outstanding water and power bills held by the territory’s two hospitals. Lawmakers also authorized a credit for Waste Management for its WAPA bill.
Senator Ray Fonseca, chair of the Health, Hospitals and Human Services Committee said the measure would result in trimming the bill for St. Croix’s Juan Luis Hospital and Medical Center by $2,026,000.
The credit for the Roy Schneider Hospital and Medical Center would amount to $3.6 million, Fonseca said.
A second bill approved Thursday authorizes the use of money from the Budget Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund, to cover obligations incurred by WAPA through the end of Fiscal Year 2024.
Sen. Alma Francis-Heyliger signaled her aversion to tapping the fund. “Unfortunately, we have to do these things at times to fend off these high rates,” Francis-Heyliger said.
Sen. Diane Capehart cautioned her colleagues to consider the funding option as a new hurricane season approaches. “Using the Rainy Day Fund is not an option without a plan to replenish it,” she said.
Francis vowed that appropriate measures would be taken. “The Rainy Day Fund has reached $21 million, and some of this will go to WAPA. But there will be some accountability,” he said.
With exasperation, the Senate president noted that Thursday’s actions were just the latest event where the Senate was called on to approve a WAPA bailout. Francis added that it would most likely not be the last.
The final element in the three-step process came with Bill No. 35-0268, a measure amending part of the Virgin Islands Code stating when and how a state of emergency can be declared. The measure inserted a new section, designating “manmade catastrophe” as a disaster created or caused by deliberate or negligent human actions. Additionally, it states that the governor “shall submit written notification to the Legislature of any actions taken under the new subsection not later than 10 days after the action is taken.”
Some senators approved the bills acknowledging that there is more work ahead to do. “Do the bills we have before us resolve the issue of timely payments to the Water and Power Authority? The answer is ‘no’,” said Sen. Donna Frett-Gregory, who sponsored two out of the three measures.
The measure will now be forwarded to the governor for signing.
