USVI Seniors Take the Senate Floor in Mock Session, Pleading for Better Elderly Care
In celebration of Older Americans Month, themed "Aging Unbound" for 2023, the 35th Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands conducted a mock session which featured senior citizens standing in as legislators and staffers to discuss a hypothetical bill focused on improving the circumstances for the aging populace.
2023-05-24 13:52:42 - VI News Staff
The lively sitting featured passionate debate and all the features of a session in regular order, complete with points of information being raised, legislative amendments being offered, and objections being filed — all while the whispered guidance of the elected senators who the seniors were representing could be heard in the background.
The heart of this session was the Bill 35-000AM, which advocated for modifications to title 19 of the Virgin Islands Code. It endeavored to add a new chapter - 76, which would prescribe the services nursing homes and assisted living facilities should offer, impose limitations on financial charges, and define residents' rights and visitation rules.
Also encapsulated in the bill was a proposal for zoning use variance for specified plots in St. Croix and St. Thomas, intending to pave the way for more nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
In the shoes of Senator Alma Francis Heyliger, Julia Callwood voiced her support for the bill but also championed the idea of an independent living complex for low-income individuals. Along similar lines Ivan Brandy, speaking for Senator Franklin Johnson, emphasized the importance of offering more activities to the elderly, saying, "We do have facilities. But to me, we don't have enough activities. Some of us need activities." Johnson's representative also called attention to the income threshold preventing some seniors from accessing care homes.