Rules and Judiciary Forwards Bills to Full Legislature

After approving board members for several agencies, including the V.I. Housing Authority and the V.I. Pharmacy Board, the Rules and Judiciary Committee discussed and forwarded all five of the presented bills Thursday to the Committee of the Whole.

Bill No. 34-0238 is an act amending title 17 of the Virgin Islands Code, chapter 5, section 41 (c) relating to courses of study in public schools to require that Virgin Islands and Caribbean history be integrated into the curriculum for kindergarten through grade 12 and for other purposes. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Genevieve R. Whitaker and Carla J. Joseph.

Whitaker, who introduced the bill, said that a curriculum for Virgin Islands history was discussed by the Legislature as far back as 1983 and 1986, but not formalized. Virgin Islands children currently learn U.S. and world history but not their own, she added.

“Crime will be reduced because they will understand the value of life.”

Bill No. 34-0243 amends title 27 of the V.I. Code, chapter 4, section 193 to change the composition of the Board of Naturopathic Physicians, sponsored by Whitaker. One goal of the bill, she said, is to add college classes to the University of the Virgin Islands curriculum.

Currently, there are no guidelines or regulations to comprise a naturopathic board, Whitaker said. She added an amendment that specified the number of members and the backgrounds of prospective board members.

Bill No. 34-0271 amends title 10 of the V.I. Code, chapter 5, section 64 of the Civil Rights Act to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as an unlawful discriminatory practice. Sens. Janelle K. Sarauw and Marvin A. Blyden sponsored the bill.

“We’ve had to fight for everything, and we’re not going to discriminate against anyone,” Blyden said when he introduced the bill.

Bill No. 34-0272 amends title 3 of the V.I. Code, chapter 16, section 274 to empower the executive director of the Taxicab Commission to hire the necessary staff to operate and manage the Taxicab Commission office. The bill was sponsored by Sens. Sarauw, Blyden and Franklin D. Johnson.