Lawmakers Press Forward With Salary Repeal Bill as Administration Officials Skip Crucial Senate Hearing

The absence of three key testifiers from Monday's Senate Committee of the Whole meeting did not prevent legislators from discussing legislation that has generated massive public interest — the effort to repeal recent salary increases for top government officials.

Sponsored by Senator Alma Francis Heyliger and co-signed by several lawmakers, Bill 36-0085 would “prevent or rescind any automatic implementation of salary adjustments made pursuant to the recommendations of the Virgin Islands Public Officials Compensation Commission, to reclaim unauthorized payments, and to establish enforcement and penalty provisions.” The lawmaker had previously attempted to special order the bill to the floor at an earlier legislative session, but was asked to take it through the full vetting process.

“Can we as a territory afford this?... Can we honestly say that this is the right thing to do? My answer to that is no,” Senator Francis Heyliger asserted.

Among those invited to share additional perspective on whether raises for senior officials in the government's executive branch was the right thing to do was Cindy Richardson, director of the Division of Personnel. However, she wrote to say that she was unable to attend “due to a long-standing schedule commitment, the receipt of the invite, the preparation for last week's session and the budget overview session scheduled for June 3.”

The governor's chief of staff Kevin A. Williams Sr. also wrote asking to be excused. “Due to scheduling conflicts, I am unable to participate at this time. I trust that in the future, we will have a more suitable opportunity to address this matter.” He welcomed the opportunity to discuss the matter “through an open and fair process based on proven data and methodologies.”

Finance Commissioner Kevin McCurdy submitted correspondence as well. “Due to existing commitments, including my preparation for the prior Senate hearing and upcoming budget overview… I will be unable to attend this particular hearing… I'm disappointed that I cannot participate in person.”

Their absence was described as an “affront to the people of the Virgin Islands” by Senator Hubert Frederick.