Lawmakers addresses Assistant Attorney Generals tenure, Rids the VI Code of an antiquated law, fight for more transparency from the Executive Branch

ST. THOMAS – The Committee on Rules and Judiciary conducted a hearing to discuss and act on five bills at the Earle B. Ottley Legislative Hall on Thursday, December 9, 2021, on St. Thomas. A robust agenda led senators of the 34th Legislature into healthy debate and discourse.

The lawmakers approached Bill No. 34-0107 An Act amending title 3 Virgin Islands Code chapter 8, section 113, subsection (a) relating to the tenure of Assistant Attorney Generals within the Virgin Islands Department of Justice, introduced by Senator Novelle Francis Jr.

One of the issues with the previous law is that when a governor’s term is over the tenure of the Attorney General ends, which is understandable. In the Virgin Islands the attorney general is appointed by the governor. However, the issue gets complicated because current legislation ties the Assistant Attorney Generals to the same consequence. This provided no stability in the department with all attorney generals would be subject to being out of a job tied to the governor.

Joss Springette, Esq., the territory’s Chief Negotiator, Cindy Richardson, Director Nominee for the Division of Personnel, Jacqueline Dickerson, the UIW, SIU President, and a representative from the office of Attorney General Denise Hodge all weighed into the discussion. The committee decided to move the measure forward with a unanimous favorable vote of the members that were present.

Bill No. 34-0073, a bill sponsored by nine senators is an Act relating to the allocations of federal funds designated for the Territory and for other related purposes. The Honorable Jenifer O’Neal, the Director of the Office of Management & Budget took the lead in opposition to the bill. Her position was that the spending and allocations of federal funds is a sole function of the Governor and the Executive Branch.

Lawmakers differed and moved the measure forward with a favorable vote. It will now move on to the full body to be acted upon in the next Legislative Session.

Senator Alma Francis Heyliger was able to get the support of her colleagues although not a member of the committee, was able to introduce her sole sponsored legislation. Bill No. 34-0035 is an Act amending title 16 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 1, subchapter III, section 61 relating to a wife’s name to give either party in a marriage the right to use the other’s surname.

Some lawmakers were unclear of the message. After discussion and compromise Francis Heyliger introduced an amendment in the nature of a substitute and simply called for the repeal of the part in the code that stated that a woman must take on the surname of her husband forsaking her own. The measure passed favorable by the four members present.

Another solely sponsored legislation by the freshman Senator Francis Heyliger was Bill No. 34-0149. The measure seeks to amend Virgin Islands Code title 18, chapter 3, section 53 updating the record keeping practices of the Board of Elections to ensure all official records relating to elections are accessible to the public through the use of technology and cloud-based services.

Supervisor of Elections, Caroline Fawkes testified with her concerns about the implementation of such a measure. The bill sponsor will be bringing amendments to address the concerns thus the bill was held in committee until the call of the chair.

The final bill sponsored by Senator Samuel Carrion in the form of Bill No. 34-0070. The bill seeks to amend title 33 Virgin Islands Code, subtitle 1, part 1 chapter 3, section 54(b) relating to the remittance of the hotel room tax to the Government of the Virgin Islands from travel organizations; and requiring the Director of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, with the assistance of the Commissioner of Tourism, to enter into an agreement with all travel organizations that offer sleeping accommodations of the Virgin Islands to collect the hotel room tax required under 33 V.I.C subsection 54.

Lawmakers were concerned about who would be responsible for capturing the taxes and turning it over to the government. Senators debated and clarified the intent of the measure and gave clarity to the measure. The bill was voted on favorably voted on and moved on to the full body.