Bryan Signs Fiscal Year 2022 Budget of Nearly $1 Billion, Expresses Concern With Certain Senate Actions

Governor Albert Bryan on Thursday signed the Fiscal Year 2022 Executive Budget bills and the FY 2021 Supplemental Executive Budget amendment, Government House has announced. The bills appropriate money for a wide range of capital projects, $5 million for the V.I. Waste Management Authority’s debt to the V.I. Water and Power Authority and contributes $10 million to the Government Employees’ Retirement System (GERS), in addition to the Government of the Virgin Islands (GVI) employer match of $14 million, according to the release.

According to Gov't House, the governor’s FY2022 General Fund Budget total of $924,198,794 features a number of highlights for the upcoming fiscal year, including:

$75 million for income tax refunds.
$19.2 million in wage increases for government employees.
$1 million for the GVI Financial Fellows Program, which is a program for recent graduates to work on a rotating business within the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Finance, the Office of Disaster Recovery and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
$225,000 for the creation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
$250,000 for the creation of the Office of Health Information Technology Exchange.
$38 million for health insurance for government retirees.
$3.8 million for outstanding Unemployment Insurance.
$2 million for Workers Compensation payments to providers.
$3 million for Bureau of Information Technology IT upgrades.
$2 million to fund the Office of Disaster Recovery.

In his transmittal letter to Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory, Mr. Bryan thanked the 34th Legislature for approving the budget bills, and he commended them for taking a conservative approach to the budget given the closure of the Limetree Bay facility, which occurred after the FY2022 Executive Budget was written.

Even so, Mr. Bryan expressed disappointment that the Senate did not consider his two-year FY2022-2023 Executive Budget proposal. Mr. Bryan's proposal met a dead wall at the Senate as lawmakers rejected the proposal on the grounds of unconstitutionality and bad timing.