Senators Move to Provide WAPA With Funding, Pass Bill To Rein In Power of Governor
In an emergency legislative session punctuated by two lengthy recesses, the territory’s lawmakers passed three bills. One authorizes central government to cover the Water and Power Authority’s current obligations, another re-appropriates funds to pay current year WAPA bills for the territory’s two hospitals and the Waste Management Authority. The third adds a category to state of emergency classifications, and seeks to insert some measure of legislative oversight over the process.
2024-04-26 12:42:17 - VI News Staff
Senate President Novelle Francis began Thursday’s emergency session by acknowledging that the consequences of not keeping WAPA “solvent and operational” would be “devastating to our residents, businesses and the economy.” Every senator, he said, “is aware of their …responsibility to do all that we can to support WAPA.” He maintained that it remains imperative, however, to keep the authority accountable.
Chair of the Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance Senator Donna Frett-Gregory then special-ordered two measures to the day’s agenda. The first, Bill 35-0266, would re-appropriate funds to cover the current year obligations of the Schneider Regional Medical Center, the Juan F. Louis Hospital and Medical Center, and WMA to WAPA. Instead of repaying a $6 million loan to the government, Senator Alma Francis Heyliger explained, WAPA would issue a credit to each of the three entities.
During discussion on the measure, Senator Ray Fonseca disclosed that SRMC would be credited just over $2 million while JFL would receive slightly more than $3.6 million. In addition to their credit from WAPA, Schneider Regional will also receive a contribution from the Department of Health. “They are now going to be charging the Department of Health $263,000,” Senator Fonseca said. “The Department of Health is going to be required to negotiate an agreement for that.” That figure was the amount that SRMC CEO Tina Commissiong had suggested the DOH pay, based on DOH's occupation of 6 percent of the hospital's square footage. Mr. Fonseca declared that while WAPA has a long way to go, Bill 35-0266 would “help improve and get them going on track.”