Sept. 21, 2001 – Following are the Fiscal Year 2002 budget appropriations approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday and sent to the Rules Committee for consideration on Saturday. Unless specified otherwise, the funding is to come from the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0112 – $1.7 million for operating expenses of the Business and Commercial Properties Revolving Fund.
Bill No. 24-0113 – $24.6 million for University of the Virgin Islands salaries and expenses, and for other purposes.
Bill No. 24-0114 – $2.6 million from the Government Insurance Fund for Finance Department operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0115 – $2.7 million from the Health Revolving Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0116 – $5 million from the Insurance Guaranty Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0117 – $3.2 million from the Indirect Cost Fund for Office of Management and Budget, Personnel Division, Property and Procurement Department, and Finance Department salaries and operating expenses, and for other purposes.
Bill No. 24-0118 – $3.5 million from the Interest Revenue Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0119 – $70.2 million from the Internal Revenue Matching Fund, with $25.2 million to go into the General Fund and $44.7 million to pay debt service on outstanding government bonds.
Bill No. 24-0120 – $3.1 million from the Caribbean Basin Initiative Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0121 – $6.4 million from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund to the Public Works Department, and for other purposes.
Bill No. 24-0122 – $306,881 for V.I. Taxicab Commission operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0123 – $169,174 from the Transportation Revolving Fund for Property and Procurement Department salaries, fringe benefits, supplies and other services and charges.
Bill No. 24-0124 – $750,000 from the Sewage System Fund for Public Works Department operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0125 – $514,322 for Public Services Commission operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0126 – $1.9 million from the interest earned on bond proceeds to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0127 – $1.5 million from the St. John Capital Improvement Fund for Public Works Department operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0128 – $479.7 million for executive branch operations.
Bill No. 24-0130 – $400,000 for Public Employees Relations Board operating expenses and $103,473 for the Labor Management Committee.
Bill No. 24-0135 – amending the V.I. Code to increase to $25,000 from the current $5,000 the amount of prior fiscal-year obligations that can be paid by departments and agencies from current-year appropriations.
Bill No. 24-0136 – authorizing the Office of Management and Budget director to allocate $44 million from the miscellaneous section of the FY 2002 budget to cover salary increases for executive branch workers and $12 million to cover executive branch salary and health insurance premium increases.
Bill No. 24-0138 – $12.8 million from the Transportation Trust Fund to the General Fund.
The committee also passed:
Bill No. 24-0133 – establishing the Disaster Recovery Contingency Revolving Fund; it is to be funded by $1.4 million from the miscellaneous section of the executive branch operations budget.
A bill appropriating $1.3 million from the Anti-litter and Beautification Fund to the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department for V.I. Carnival, St. John Festival and Crucian Christmas Festival celebrations.
It tabled two measures:
Bill No. 24-0131 – to amend the V.I. Code regarding the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund.
Bill No. 24-0132 – to amend the V.I. Code regarding the Crisis Intervention Fund.
On Saturday, the Rules Committee is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. on St. Croix to consider the bills forwarded from Finance. On Monday and Tuesday, the full Senate is scheduled to meet on St. Thomas to consider the budget bills sent from Rules.
FINANCE PASSES $550.9M BUDGET ON TO RULES
Sept. 21, 2001 – The Senate Finance Committee worked until 2 a.m. Friday to finish up its work on the government's Fiscal Year 2002 budget, coming in at $550.9 million, virtually identical to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's proposed $551 million, although differing in specifics.
Amid numerous reductions in the administration's proposed appropriations, the University of the Virgin Islands was awarded $1.8 million more than the governor requested.
The measures approved are scheduled to be considered by the Rules Committee on Saturday. The Rules chair, Sen. Carlton Dowe, said Friday that the committee would meet on St. Croix, although earlier announcements had said it would convene on St. Thomas.
There was not much Finance Committee debate on the more than 20 bills processed Thursday. The Senate majority, which has five of the seven Finance Committee seats, had worked with other committee members fine-tuning the bills for the last two months. The unaligned committee member, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, voted with the committee on most of the measures, as did the minority member, Sen. Douglas Canton, who missed Thursday morning's portion of the session.
The committee approved General Fund expenditures including:
– $479,756,528 for executive branch departments and agencies.
– $24,273,944 for the Territorial Court.
– $ 2,600,000 for the Territorial Public Defender's Office.
Executive branch appropriations were cut to $479.7 million from the $482.4 million proposed by Turnbull. The Tourism Department budget was reduced from $3.1 million to $2.7 million. However, the committee voted to spare the Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund from contributing to the territory's carnival celebrations this fiscal year, instead appropriating $1.3 million from the Anti-litter and Beautification Fund for V.I. Carnival, the St. John Festival and the Crucian Christmas Festival.
In other executive branch funding, the Office of the Governor was reduced from $5.7 million to $5.1 million and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, from $4.2 million to $3.9 million. Always the biggest departmental budget, the Education Department was reduced minimally, from $128.9 million to $128.3 million.
The committee approved intact the governor's legislation to authorize the Office of Management and Budget to allocate $44 million for salary increases for government workers and $12 million to cover increases in government employees' health insurance premiums.
The committee also approved Turnbull's proposal to create a Disaster Recovery Contingency Fund to meet immediate expenses following a hurricane or other disaster such as emergency operations of the V. I. National Guard. It is to be funded with a $1.4 million appropriation from the executive budget miscellaneous section.
Other large appropriations included $4 million for the Molasses Subsidy Fund, a measure Public Finance Authority director Amadeo Francis spoke forcibly about in an August Finance Committee hearing. He warned the senators to be cautious with the fund. "The health and welfare of the rum industry in the territory are of critical importance" to the V.I. economy, he said.
The committee also appropriated $2.1 million for rum promotion, $8.1 million for retirees' health insurance and $1.5 million for the newly created Economic Development Authority.
The committee approved $1.8 million more than Turnbull had proposed for the University of the Virgin Islands, which Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel said would fund pension increases for UVI retirees. Turnbull had proposed $22.8 million; the committee raised it to $24.6 million.
A line-item budget came out of the committee for the first time in recent years. The budget specifies amounts for salaries, rent, travel, capital outlays and several other expense categories. Recent budgets had allocated lump-sum budgets in order to give departments greater leeway in spending their appropriations.
"For the first time in many years, we are delivering an itemized budget," Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, Finance Committee chair, said. "They must spend it for the specific purposes, and if there are changes, they must return to the Legislature."
But the committee approved granting departments more flexibility in paying off prior year obligations from current year appropriations, raising the cap from $5,000 to $25,000. Turnbull had asked for a $50,000 cap.
There were several recesses throughout the marathon meeting to allow the legislative legal counsel to draft amendments. The meeting had been scheduled to begin 10 a.m. Thursday but convened at 11:30 a.m., then broke repeatedly throughout the day and night. Hansen stated several times on Thursday that the committee members, other majority members and Post Audit staff had been up the night before, until 4:30 a.m. Thursday, hammering out the numerous bills.
An omnibus bill — a mix of policy edicts and initiatives to the executive branch — was last on the committee's agenda, and it was passed.
The committee tabled two bills, one to delay implementation of the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund and other to supply the Crisis Intervention Fund, which is supposed to be funded through the Internal Revenue Matching Fund. Senators said the funds were especially necessary now, given the territory's unstable financial future.
All of the bills approved by Finance are now scheduled to be considered by the Rules Committee at 10 a.m. Saturday on St. Croix. The bills approved by Rules are to go before the full Senate for a final vote on Monday and Tuesday on St. Thomas.
Amid numerous reductions in the administration's proposed appropriations, the University of the Virgin Islands was awarded $1.8 million more than the governor requested.
The measures approved are scheduled to be considered by the Rules Committee on Saturday. The Rules chair, Sen. Carlton Dowe, said Friday that the committee would meet on St. Croix, although earlier announcements had said it would convene on St. Thomas.
There was not much Finance Committee debate on the more than 20 bills processed Thursday. The Senate majority, which has five of the seven Finance Committee seats, had worked with other committee members fine-tuning the bills for the last two months. The unaligned committee member, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, voted with the committee on most of the measures, as did the minority member, Sen. Douglas Canton, who missed Thursday morning's portion of the session.
The committee approved General Fund expenditures including:
– $479,756,528 for executive branch departments and agencies.
– $24,273,944 for the Territorial Court.
– $ 2,600,000 for the Territorial Public Defender's Office.
Executive branch appropriations were cut to $479.7 million from the $482.4 million proposed by Turnbull. The Tourism Department budget was reduced from $3.1 million to $2.7 million. However, the committee voted to spare the Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund from contributing to the territory's carnival celebrations this fiscal year, instead appropriating $1.3 million from the Anti-litter and Beautification Fund for V.I. Carnival, the St. John Festival and the Crucian Christmas Festival.
In other executive branch funding, the Office of the Governor was reduced from $5.7 million to $5.1 million and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, from $4.2 million to $3.9 million. Always the biggest departmental budget, the Education Department was reduced minimally, from $128.9 million to $128.3 million.
The committee approved intact the governor's legislation to authorize the Office of Management and Budget to allocate $44 million for salary increases for government workers and $12 million to cover increases in government employees' health insurance premiums.
The committee also approved Turnbull's proposal to create a Disaster Recovery Contingency Fund to meet immediate expenses following a hurricane or other disaster such as emergency operations of the V. I. National Guard. It is to be funded with a $1.4 million appropriation from the executive budget miscellaneous section.
Other large appropriations included $4 million for the Molasses Subsidy Fund, a measure Public Finance Authority director Amadeo Francis spoke forcibly about in an August Finance Committee hearing. He warned the senators to be cautious with the fund. "The health and welfare of the rum industry in the territory are of critical importance" to the V.I. economy, he said.
The committee also appropriated $2.1 million for rum promotion, $8.1 million for retirees' health insurance and $1.5 million for the newly created Economic Development Authority.
The committee approved $1.8 million more than Turnbull had proposed for the University of the Virgin Islands, which Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel said would fund pension increases for UVI retirees. Turnbull had proposed $22.8 million; the committee raised it to $24.6 million.
A line-item budget came out of the committee for the first time in recent years. The budget specifies amounts for salaries, rent, travel, capital outlays and several other expense categories. Recent budgets had allocated lump-sum budgets in order to give departments greater leeway in spending their appropriations.
"For the first time in many years, we are delivering an itemized budget," Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, Finance Committee chair, said. "They must spend it for the specific purposes, and if there are changes, they must return to the Legislature."
But the committee approved granting departments more flexibility in paying off prior year obligations from current year appropriations, raising the cap from $5,000 to $25,000. Turnbull had asked for a $50,000 cap.
There were several recesses throughout the marathon meeting to allow the legislative legal counsel to draft amendments. The meeting had been scheduled to begin 10 a.m. Thursday but convened at 11:30 a.m., then broke repeatedly throughout the day and night. Hansen stated several times on Thursday that the committee members, other majority members and Post Audit staff had been up the night before, until 4:30 a.m. Thursday, hammering out the numerous bills.
An omnibus bill — a mix of policy edicts and initiatives to the executive branch — was last on the committee's agenda, and it was passed.
The committee tabled two bills, one to delay implementation of the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund and other to supply the Crisis Intervention Fund, which is supposed to be funded through the Internal Revenue Matching Fund. Senators said the funds were especially necessary now, given the territory's unstable financial future.
All of the bills approved by Finance are now scheduled to be considered by the Rules Committee at 10 a.m. Saturday on St. Croix. The bills approved by Rules are to go before the full Senate for a final vote on Monday and Tuesday on St. Thomas.
ROTARY CLUB OF ST. THOMAS II
The Rotary Club of St. Thomas II will meet at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at Marriiott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort.
The guest speaker will be Richard Doumeng of the St. Thomas/St. John Hotel and Tourism Association. The topic will be a forecast of the tourism 2001-02 season.
The guest speaker will be Richard Doumeng of the St. Thomas/St. John Hotel and Tourism Association. The topic will be a forecast of the tourism 2001-02 season.
ROTARY CLUB OF ST. THOMAS II
The Rotary Club of St. Thomas II will meet at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort.
The guest speaker will be Richard Doumeng of the St. Thomas/St.John Hotel and Tourism Association. The topic will be a forecast of the tourism 2001-02 season.
The guest speaker will be Richard Doumeng of the St. Thomas/St.John Hotel and Tourism Association. The topic will be a forecast of the tourism 2001-02 season.
LOUISE LOLITA POWELL WILLIAMS
Louise Lotlita Powell Williams, age 72, of 15-BB Est. Calquohoun, passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. Funeral services are pending.
Professional arrangements are entrusted to James Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.
Professional arrangements are entrusted to James Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.
WAPA HOLDS OFF ON WASTE-TO-ENERGY DECISION
Sept. 21, 2001 — It will be at least 10 days before the V.I. Water and Power Authority board of directors makes a decision on whether the utility will purchase electricity and water from a proposed waste-to-energy plant aimed at ending the territory’s landfill crisis.
The WAPA board met Thursday on St. Croix to approve a contract between the utility and Caribe Waste Technologies, the company that won the V.I. government’s bidding process last year to construct a facility to handle the islands’ solid waste. CWT’s proposal calls for building a $180 million gasification plant on St. Croix to dispose of the big island’s solid waste and that from St. Thomas and St. John. WAPA is involved because in order for the project to go forward, the utility must purchase $11 million to $12 million worth of power and electricity a year from the waste-to-energy plant.
The purchases would reduce the approximately $37 million-a-year cost the government is expected to pay to about $25 million annually.
But frustration reigned at the WAPA board meeting on Thursday as CWT representatives and the utility’s management disagreed on who was responsible for the delay in having a decision made. In mid-August, the WAPA board hired a Washington, D.C.-based consultant to critique a proposed contract that set out terms for the utility to purchase water and power from the gasification plant. But Joseph Thomas, WAPA’s executive director, said that the requests by WAPA to CWT to arrange a meeting between operators of a gasification plant in Germany and the consultants were never made. That delay, Thomas said, has kept WAPA’s consultants from completing a report about the pros and cons of the contract and the gasification technology as it relates to electricity generation to the board.
"We wanted to confirm in our own minds we had reliable technology from the WAPA point of view, not the trash burning," Thomas said.
Thomas also said that the two gasification plants now in operation in Germany and Japan don’t convert waste into energy on a commercial level. That, he said, puts WAPA in a bind because if it does agree to purchase electricity from CWT, which WAPA management says it actually doesn’t need, it will have to modify operations at its current oil-burning plant.
"When you are taking on a technology that hasn’t been commercialized, you are taking on some risk," Thomas said. "We have to get to the facts as soon as possible."
That sentiment was shared by Mark Augenblick, CWT’s chairman and CEO. He said his company had first met with WAPA management in March 2000 and then was chosen last year by the V.I. government through a competitive bidding process to solve the territory’s solid waste problems. He noted a June 27 letter Gov. Charles Turnbull sent to the WAPA board exhorting it to sign a contract with CWT to help deal with the out-of-compliance landfills in the territory.
Also, because of the proximity of the St. Croix landfill to the island’s airport, the Federal Aviation Administration wants the dump closed by the end of 2002. If the landfill isn’t closed by then or a plan to deal with its closure not in place soon, the FAA has threatened to decertify the airport.
From the time Turnbull sent his letter to the WAPA board, Augenblick said it is "three months later and we still have the same solid waste crisis."
"We are frustrated as well," he said. "There is no genuine question about reliability."
Augenblick called Thomas’ assessment of the gasification process as a "back-handed slap" at the technology.
"That is not correct and the government knows that it is not correct," he said. "We have been validated by governments and validated by independent companies."
Pending the report by WAPA’s consultant and time for the utility’s management to digest the information, the WAPA board agreed to hold a special meeting on the CWT issue sometime during the first week of October. At the meeting, the consultant and CWT’s experts will both have an opportunity to debate the issue.
The WAPA board met Thursday on St. Croix to approve a contract between the utility and Caribe Waste Technologies, the company that won the V.I. government’s bidding process last year to construct a facility to handle the islands’ solid waste. CWT’s proposal calls for building a $180 million gasification plant on St. Croix to dispose of the big island’s solid waste and that from St. Thomas and St. John. WAPA is involved because in order for the project to go forward, the utility must purchase $11 million to $12 million worth of power and electricity a year from the waste-to-energy plant.
The purchases would reduce the approximately $37 million-a-year cost the government is expected to pay to about $25 million annually.
But frustration reigned at the WAPA board meeting on Thursday as CWT representatives and the utility’s management disagreed on who was responsible for the delay in having a decision made. In mid-August, the WAPA board hired a Washington, D.C.-based consultant to critique a proposed contract that set out terms for the utility to purchase water and power from the gasification plant. But Joseph Thomas, WAPA’s executive director, said that the requests by WAPA to CWT to arrange a meeting between operators of a gasification plant in Germany and the consultants were never made. That delay, Thomas said, has kept WAPA’s consultants from completing a report about the pros and cons of the contract and the gasification technology as it relates to electricity generation to the board.
"We wanted to confirm in our own minds we had reliable technology from the WAPA point of view, not the trash burning," Thomas said.
Thomas also said that the two gasification plants now in operation in Germany and Japan don’t convert waste into energy on a commercial level. That, he said, puts WAPA in a bind because if it does agree to purchase electricity from CWT, which WAPA management says it actually doesn’t need, it will have to modify operations at its current oil-burning plant.
"When you are taking on a technology that hasn’t been commercialized, you are taking on some risk," Thomas said. "We have to get to the facts as soon as possible."
That sentiment was shared by Mark Augenblick, CWT’s chairman and CEO. He said his company had first met with WAPA management in March 2000 and then was chosen last year by the V.I. government through a competitive bidding process to solve the territory’s solid waste problems. He noted a June 27 letter Gov. Charles Turnbull sent to the WAPA board exhorting it to sign a contract with CWT to help deal with the out-of-compliance landfills in the territory.
Also, because of the proximity of the St. Croix landfill to the island’s airport, the Federal Aviation Administration wants the dump closed by the end of 2002. If the landfill isn’t closed by then or a plan to deal with its closure not in place soon, the FAA has threatened to decertify the airport.
From the time Turnbull sent his letter to the WAPA board, Augenblick said it is "three months later and we still have the same solid waste crisis."
"We are frustrated as well," he said. "There is no genuine question about reliability."
Augenblick called Thomas’ assessment of the gasification process as a "back-handed slap" at the technology.
"That is not correct and the government knows that it is not correct," he said. "We have been validated by governments and validated by independent companies."
Pending the report by WAPA’s consultant and time for the utility’s management to digest the information, the WAPA board agreed to hold a special meeting on the CWT issue sometime during the first week of October. At the meeting, the consultant and CWT’s experts will both have an opportunity to debate the issue.
FINANCE YET TO ACT ON EXECUTIVE BUDGET BILLS
Sept. 20, 2001 – The Senate Finance Committee took portions of the Fiscal Year 2002 budget through the first hurdle Thursday, passing more than 20 bills and amendments which will now proceed to the Rules Committee on Saturday and, if approved there, to the full Senate for a final vote on Monday and Tuesday.
By 9 p.m., however, the budgets for the executive branch departments had not been acted upon, and the committee was in recess.
Throughout the day, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, the committee chair, was not interested in hearing concerns about the need to rework the budget, given the threat to the V.I. economy of events unfolding in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the mainland. "You can't use the disaster to sabotage the budget," she said at one point, adding that there "are means in place to secure the avenues of our economy."
Fellow majority bloc senator Norma Pickard-Samuel jumped on Hansen's bandwagon, declaring, "Osama bin Laden couldn't stop this budget."
Scheduled to start at 10 a.m., Thursday's session got under way at 11:30. The committee passed 13 bills in one hour, then recessed until 2:30 p.m. Committee chair Alicia "Chucky" Hansen noted on several occasions that the committee and Post Audit staff had been up until 4:30 a.m. Thursday completing the budget markup.
Hansen made good her publicly announced intention to safeguard the Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund exclusively for tourism advertising. She did so by amending a bill to allow the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department to dip into the tourism fund to finance the territory's three annual carnival celebrations.
The amendment authorizes giving the department $1.3 million from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund as a grant to fund V.I. Carnival, the St. John Festival and the Crucian Christmas Festival.
Hansen also touted her idea, announced Wednesday and supported by other majority bloc senators, to snag some of the federal government's proposed $24 billion airline bailout for the Virgin Islands. "We have to act now," she announced at Thursday's committee session. She suggested hiring an airline expert to "deal at a national level to make some of these funds available to the V.I." Her idea is to entice travelers to the territory by subsidizing the cost of airfare with the federal funds.
She also mentioned her proposal, announced Tuesday, to take $5 million each from the Transportation Trust Fund and the Land Bank Fund, pass it through the General Fund and donate it to New York City for victims of last week's terrorist disaster. "It would show symbolic support as a sacrifice," Hansen said, "and it will send a message: We're here to support you, though we have so very little."
She also suggested wooing the Puerto Rico tourist market by using subsidies for ferry and airline services to bring back the market St. Thomas once had with day-trippers from San Juan.
The Finance Committee meeting was calm and orderly until Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg brought up the chilling effect the recent terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland and their aftermath will likely have on the V.I. economy. "A round-table discussion on this budget to ward off a possible crisis in the next few months should be considered," Donastorg said.
That was enough for Hansen, who replied that she and her committee and the Post Audit staff had worked for two months to get the budget into its current form. It "will go through," she said. "We are not going to accept defeat. You can't use the disaster to sabotage the budget."
She added, "There are means in place to secure the avenues of our economy."
In a reference to the Fiscal Year 2001 budget, which didn't get to Government House until the end of the 2001 calendar year, Hansen said of the 2002 version, "If we don't deliver it by Sept. 30, the governor will open his bankbook and spend as he wishes. Some senators want to dismiss this budget."
Sens. Lorraine Berry and Emmett Hansen II have written to Turnbull asking him to rework his FY 2002 revenue projections in light of the economic effects the territory is feeling from the terrorist attacks.
Like Hansen and Pickard-Samuel, Sens. Carlton Dowe and Donald "Ducks" Cole agreed the budget must go through, taking jabs at the minority in the thousand-times-told tale of which Senate bloc was responsible for the teachers getting their step increases. The minority walked out of a special session on June 15, when the governor's bill to spend a $100 million tax "windfall" was on the floor. The step increases for unionized government employees were included in the appropriations. The minority left in protest of not being able to question top administration officials about the projected revenues before the bill was put to a vote.
At Thursday's Finance meeting, Dowe and Cole stressed the need to get capital projects up and going. "There's $200 million in federal funds we're not using," Dowe said. He and Cole said the project plans need to be implemented to offset the territory's dependence on tourism revenues. "Instead of focusing exclusively on reducing government spending, we should redouble our efforts to stimulate the economy," Dowe said.
The committee recessed for an hour at 5 p.m., awaiting several amendments being drawn up by the legal counsel for budget bills remaining to be considered. At 7:40 p.m. the meeting resumed, and an hour later another half-hour recess was called; in the interim, the committee wrote a new appropriation for the territorial Public Defender's Office and approved a budget for Territorial Court that includes $400,000 to start a new Rising Stars steel orchestra program on St. Croix similar to the one on St. Thomas.
None of the budgets for the executive branch departments had been acted upon at that point.
The texts of all bills, amendments and dollar amounts as approved were not available Thursday night.
Attending the meeting were all committee members — Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Donastorg, Dowe, Hansen, Norman Jn. Baptiste and Pickard-Samuel. Non-committee member Celestino A. White Sr. made a couple of brief appearances.
By 9 p.m., however, the budgets for the executive branch departments had not been acted upon, and the committee was in recess.
Throughout the day, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, the committee chair, was not interested in hearing concerns about the need to rework the budget, given the threat to the V.I. economy of events unfolding in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the mainland. "You can't use the disaster to sabotage the budget," she said at one point, adding that there "are means in place to secure the avenues of our economy."
Fellow majority bloc senator Norma Pickard-Samuel jumped on Hansen's bandwagon, declaring, "Osama bin Laden couldn't stop this budget."
Scheduled to start at 10 a.m., Thursday's session got under way at 11:30. The committee passed 13 bills in one hour, then recessed until 2:30 p.m. Committee chair Alicia "Chucky" Hansen noted on several occasions that the committee and Post Audit staff had been up until 4:30 a.m. Thursday completing the budget markup.
Hansen made good her publicly announced intention to safeguard the Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund exclusively for tourism advertising. She did so by amending a bill to allow the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department to dip into the tourism fund to finance the territory's three annual carnival celebrations.
The amendment authorizes giving the department $1.3 million from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund as a grant to fund V.I. Carnival, the St. John Festival and the Crucian Christmas Festival.
Hansen also touted her idea, announced Wednesday and supported by other majority bloc senators, to snag some of the federal government's proposed $24 billion airline bailout for the Virgin Islands. "We have to act now," she announced at Thursday's committee session. She suggested hiring an airline expert to "deal at a national level to make some of these funds available to the V.I." Her idea is to entice travelers to the territory by subsidizing the cost of airfare with the federal funds.
She also mentioned her proposal, announced Tuesday, to take $5 million each from the Transportation Trust Fund and the Land Bank Fund, pass it through the General Fund and donate it to New York City for victims of last week's terrorist disaster. "It would show symbolic support as a sacrifice," Hansen said, "and it will send a message: We're here to support you, though we have so very little."
She also suggested wooing the Puerto Rico tourist market by using subsidies for ferry and airline services to bring back the market St. Thomas once had with day-trippers from San Juan.
The Finance Committee meeting was calm and orderly until Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg brought up the chilling effect the recent terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland and their aftermath will likely have on the V.I. economy. "A round-table discussion on this budget to ward off a possible crisis in the next few months should be considered," Donastorg said.
That was enough for Hansen, who replied that she and her committee and the Post Audit staff had worked for two months to get the budget into its current form. It "will go through," she said. "We are not going to accept defeat. You can't use the disaster to sabotage the budget."
She added, "There are means in place to secure the avenues of our economy."
In a reference to the Fiscal Year 2001 budget, which didn't get to Government House until the end of the 2001 calendar year, Hansen said of the 2002 version, "If we don't deliver it by Sept. 30, the governor will open his bankbook and spend as he wishes. Some senators want to dismiss this budget."
Sens. Lorraine Berry and Emmett Hansen II have written to Turnbull asking him to rework his FY 2002 revenue projections in light of the economic effects the territory is feeling from the terrorist attacks.
Like Hansen and Pickard-Samuel, Sens. Carlton Dowe and Donald "Ducks" Cole agreed the budget must go through, taking jabs at the minority in the thousand-times-told tale of which Senate bloc was responsible for the teachers getting their step increases. The minority walked out of a special session on June 15, when the governor's bill to spend a $100 million tax "windfall" was on the floor. The step increases for unionized government employees were included in the appropriations. The minority left in protest of not being able to question top administration officials about the projected revenues before the bill was put to a vote.
At Thursday's Finance meeting, Dowe and Cole stressed the need to get capital projects up and going. "There's $200 million in federal funds we're not using," Dowe said. He and Cole said the project plans need to be implemented to offset the territory's dependence on tourism revenues. "Instead of focusing exclusively on reducing government spending, we should redouble our efforts to stimulate the economy," Dowe said.
The committee recessed for an hour at 5 p.m., awaiting several amendments being drawn up by the legal counsel for budget bills remaining to be considered. At 7:40 p.m. the meeting resumed, and an hour later another half-hour recess was called; in the interim, the committee wrote a new appropriation for the territorial Public Defender's Office and approved a budget for Territorial Court that includes $400,000 to start a new Rising Stars steel orchestra program on St. Croix similar to the one on St. Thomas.
None of the budgets for the executive branch departments had been acted upon at that point.
The texts of all bills, amendments and dollar amounts as approved were not available Thursday night.
Attending the meeting were all committee members — Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Donastorg, Dowe, Hansen, Norman Jn. Baptiste and Pickard-Samuel. Non-committee member Celestino A. White Sr. made a couple of brief appearances.
ANOTHER CANDLELIGHT VIGIL
Dear Source,
I read about Jane Clemo attempting to attend the candlelight vigil in Emancipation Park, only to have it cancelled due to "information getting out too late". The vigil should still have been on. Quantity should not have been a concern, only quality. One or two people would have been fine.
My three-year-old daughter asked me if we could light candles for the people who had been hurt by the "bad men in the airplanes". She saw people doing this on the television. I agreed and proceeded to put together a sign and located 11 candles. We found the perfect spot. At the entrance to our road a small concrete slab had been put down recently. A friend and her husband joined us and we put the sign and candles up. A neighbor of ours who happens to be a pastor stooped and offered prayers for the victims and their families. He also prayed for punishment tempered with justice and tolerance for others. The memorial is still there. We relight the candles every night.
Unfortunately someone stole several of the candles. I'm replacing them. What a lesson for my child. Along with "bad men who hurt people", we also have "bad people who steal candles".
C'Aron Hamilton
Fortuna, St. Thomas
I read about Jane Clemo attempting to attend the candlelight vigil in Emancipation Park, only to have it cancelled due to "information getting out too late". The vigil should still have been on. Quantity should not have been a concern, only quality. One or two people would have been fine.
My three-year-old daughter asked me if we could light candles for the people who had been hurt by the "bad men in the airplanes". She saw people doing this on the television. I agreed and proceeded to put together a sign and located 11 candles. We found the perfect spot. At the entrance to our road a small concrete slab had been put down recently. A friend and her husband joined us and we put the sign and candles up. A neighbor of ours who happens to be a pastor stooped and offered prayers for the victims and their families. He also prayed for punishment tempered with justice and tolerance for others. The memorial is still there. We relight the candles every night.
Unfortunately someone stole several of the candles. I'm replacing them. What a lesson for my child. Along with "bad men who hurt people", we also have "bad people who steal candles".
C'Aron Hamilton
Fortuna, St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
WEARING A FLAG IN COURT LEAST OF THE PROBLEM
Dear Source,
Having worked in law enforcement, both in the mainland and in the United States Virgin Islands, I have had the opportunity to spend many hours in court.
In the mainland everyone who enters the courtroom better be wearing proper attire for court, or they will be disciplined by the judge, the marshall's deputies or the sheriff's deputies.
In the United States Virgin Islands defendants stand in court with whatever they feel like and wear dark shades and headgear in front of the judges – in court.
As a proud American, Virgin Islander, and Crucian I am embarrassed and appalled to hear that someone has been admonished for expressing his patriotism, while others continue to disrespect the American judicial system.
Edwin Torres
St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands
Having worked in law enforcement, both in the mainland and in the United States Virgin Islands, I have had the opportunity to spend many hours in court.
In the mainland everyone who enters the courtroom better be wearing proper attire for court, or they will be disciplined by the judge, the marshall's deputies or the sheriff's deputies.
In the United States Virgin Islands defendants stand in court with whatever they feel like and wear dark shades and headgear in front of the judges – in court.
As a proud American, Virgin Islander, and Crucian I am embarrassed and appalled to hear that someone has been admonished for expressing his patriotism, while others continue to disrespect the American judicial system.
Edwin Torres
St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
WEARING A FLAG IN COURT LEAST OF THE PROBLEM
Dear Source,
Having worked in law enforcement, both in the mainland and in the United States Virgin Islands, I have had the opportunity to spend many hours in court.
In the mainland everyone who enters the courtroom better be wearing proper attire for court, or they will be disciplined by the judge, the marshall's deputies or the sheriff's deputies.
In the United States Virgin Islands defendants stand in court with whatever they feel like and wear dark shades and headgear in front of the judges – in court.
As a proud American, Virgin Islander, and Crucian I am embarrassed and appalled to hear that someone has been admonished for expressing his patriotism, while others continue to disrespect the American judicial system.
Edwin Torres
St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands
Having worked in law enforcement, both in the mainland and in the United States Virgin Islands, I have had the opportunity to spend many hours in court.
In the mainland everyone who enters the courtroom better be wearing proper attire for court, or they will be disciplined by the judge, the marshall's deputies or the sheriff's deputies.
In the United States Virgin Islands defendants stand in court with whatever they feel like and wear dark shades and headgear in front of the judges – in court.
As a proud American, Virgin Islander, and Crucian I am embarrassed and appalled to hear that someone has been admonished for expressing his patriotism, while others continue to disrespect the American judicial system.
Edwin Torres
St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands
