The territory may grant $5,000 scholarships to students who study emergency management and agree to return to the territory to work in that field, if legislation approved in the Committee on Education and Workforce Development on Monday is ultimately voted into law.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Sammuel Sanes, would set aside one percent of the Peace Officer Training Fund, a fund made up of $5 fees attached to all detention bonds and a portion of vehicle license fees, created to establish a steady source of funding for police training. It also would set aside one percent of the Internal Revenue Matching Fund, which consists of all federal rum excise taxes remitted to the territory.
The fund would be held by the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency and doled out in cooperation with the V.I. Board of Education, which handles about $1.5 million in scholarships annually.
There are an array of obligations on that fund, including numerous deductions, where a portion of the tax revenues are returned to the rum companies and used to pay off bonds that financed Diageo’s plant construction, and an array of special funds set up with portions of the revenues, and the government programs financed with the remainder of these funds after the above deductions.
Students who do not return to work in the territory would be liable for the full scholarship amount, plus 10 percent.
"This would create an opportunity for young Virgin Islanders to go to college and learn about emergency management and come back," said Sanes, the bill’s sponsor, pointing out the territory is subject to regular hurricanes and rare tsunamis.
VITEMA Director Elton Lewis said the bill was "timely and appropriate."
“We are tasked with saving lives and protecting property during a disaster and it is critical that we have an ample and well-trained workforce to complete this mission," Lewis said.
Lewis and acting Assistant Commissioner of Education Sarah Mahurt both suggested the scholarship should be handled entirely by the Board of Education, which already handles a portfolio of similar scholarships.
V.I. Board of Education Chairman Oswin Sewer said the board endorsed a scholarship, but raised several concerns he wanted to see clarified in the bill, including the term "emergency management."
"Does that term include police, health care or tourism official involved with emergency management?" Sewer asked. "The bill requires individuals to return to the Virgin Islands. Will it be a two-year or a four-year commitment? Will there be a penalty if the student does not return?" Sewer asked, suggesting some clarification.
Lewis agreed, saying "there must be some penalty clause where there are consequences. At the same time, the government has to be ready to hire them," he said.
Sen. Janette Millin Young asked Lewis if $5,000 was too low. Lewis said it was "small" because "the average entering freshman is looking at at least $30,000 in tuition."
Board of Education Executive Director Carol Henneman agreed the amount was low compared to total tuition.
"Five thousand dollars is, for lack of a better word, inadequate. But it is in line with all the other scholarships through the Board of Education," Henneman said.
Voting to send the bill on for further consideration were: Sanes, Young, Sens. Judi Buckley, Donald Cole, Myron Jackson and Nereida "Nellie" Rivera O’Reilly. Sen. Tregenza Roach voted nay.
The committee held several bills for further amendment, including legislation to require public schools to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and requiring the government and companies receiving Economic Development Authority benefits to give employees up to two hours off work per month with pay to attend PTSA meetings.
