USVI Public Records

Document text

VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Legislature USVI January 26, 2026 · 4.8 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/3fuUgGdpfoo Status This is a working transcript produced by machine from a recording of a public proceeding. It is a finding aid, not an official record of the Legislature. Transcribed by VI Update, using OpenAI Whisper large-v3-turbo, run locally. Not reviewed by a person. Reliability Automatic transcription, UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording before relying on it. Speech recognition splits spoken digits and wraps figures mid-number, so a dollar amount, a vote count or a bill number can be wrong in a way that reads as correct. Speakers are not identified: automatic speaker labelling was measured unusable and removed. Public record The underlying proceeding is a public record of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 3 V.I.C. § 881(a) defines public records to include all records and documents of or belonging to this Territory or any branch of government, or any "department, board, council or committee of any branch of government" · which names legislative committees by category. § 881(b) gives every citizen the right to examine and copy such records, and the news media the right to publish them. (The open-meetings chapter, 1 V.I.C. § 254, does NOT reach the Legislature: § 253(b) expressly excludes it and its Standing and Special Committees. § 881 does, and it is § 881 that confers the right to copy and publish.) The Legislature broadcast this proceeding publicly itself. The source recording is not ours, is not hosted here, and remains with its publisher at the link above. Rights To what we added · the transcription, its arrangement and its description · we assert nothing. A verbatim transcript is mechanical rather than authored, so there is likely nothing in it to own; to the extent any copyright is nonetheless found to subsist, it is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Please copy it, quote it, index it, train on it, republish it, mirror it, sell it. Redistribution is the point: a public record with one copy is one fire from gone. No permission is needed, and none is ours to grant or withhold. ¶¶ We'll be right back. 0:00:00 Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ so so 0:01:00 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:04:30 Thank you. Thank you. 0:06:00 Thank you. I love you. [2 such phrases repeated 12 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:07:00 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:13:00 Thank you. Oh, my God. Thank you. 0:16:00 Thank you. so so so so 0:17:30 Thank you. Oh, my God. [2 such phrases repeated 11 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:20:00 Let's go. Thank you. so so Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. guitar solo Thank you. Thank you. 0:25:30 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:32:30 Thank you. Thank you. 0:34:00 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:35:00 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 1 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Thank you. Thank you. 0:36:30 Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you. 0:37:30 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:39:00 ¶¶ Thank you. 0:40:30 ¶¶ Me, no, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la... Thank you. Thank you. 0:41:30 Oye, amigo. Thank you. 0:43:29 Thank you. so so I'm Africa Harrigan, and joining me tonight, good evening, it's Aldo Baptiste from Biblical Fears, good evening, I'm Jamal Potter from Public Affairs, and tonight we're here at 0:44:29 capitol building here on st thomas u.s virgin islands where the governor albert brian jr is slated to deliver his final state of the territory address today he will be outlining his administration's priorities vision and progress made for the people of the u.s virgin islands what do you think of some of the topics he'll talk tonight talk about tonight alwyn you know like you know one thing i say in the music business we always look forward to last lap so last up usually the last half an hour of the jam and everything gets hype and what's not so i'm expecting for him to go out with a with a bang to be honest with you if um so to speak um looking forward to the this is his last couple of months um by this time next year we'll have a new administration in yes we'll be having a different conversation and so it's all waited that he leaves for the next generation to see what what's his plan is um but i'm excited i'm excited to hear what it is he's had to say i'm definitely excited too what about you jamal um i think there are lots of things that a lot of us would like to see today um i think what has been a lot of people have been concerned about wapa state of maybe state of global affairs maybe just the overall state of how we are all feeling here in the territory i mean i based on social media i think that people are have mixed feelings there's been mixed reactions some people feel as though you know the administration has done a wonderful job and others believe that there has been some significant challenges as well which is expected yes expected unless you are governor you cover everybody uh we have not heard that because some people are going to feel comfortable with this is doing and um i think 0:46:27 a lot of the things that we're going through i think the people let me to get a better understanding of what goes on i don't think some of the stuff to have left hanging so then people use assumptions and put in their own two cents you know how you know how we stay um but like i say all in all i say he's still the governor of the territory and we have to hold one head for us to move forward yeah he's the governor but okay but we still the people so we still have choices to make as far as what we did we want from our electives senate including that's not so um like i said i'm looking forward to hear why his approach is going to be but we have the normal topics wapa healthcare okay education education workforce we got we got billions to spend uh we don't have so we are interested to see where we take it tonight yes stay tuned to legit tv for live of coverage of the Governor's State of the Territory of Address. 0:48:15 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:49:36 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:52:06 Thank you. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. Fellow Virgin Islanders and friends, the 36th legislature of the Virgin Islands is now out of recess. Please note that this is a continuation of our January 12, 2026 legislative session. The national anthem, the Virgin Islands March, and the official invocation have already been done. Tonight, though, we gather here at the Earl B. 0:53:36 partly legislative chambers, not only as government officials and interested citizens but as stewards of our shared destiny. Members of this distinguished body and our guests, we welcome you to this annual moment of reflection and resolve. The State of the Territory Address is so much more than a report of activities. It is a measure of our collective will. It is an accounting of promises kept and challenges confronted. 0:54:35 It is a blueprint for the Virgin Islands we are building together. This Legislature, 36th Legislature, my 14 colleagues and I stand ready to listen, to question and to act. We bring to this dialogue the voices of our constituents, their hopes, their dreams, their frustrations, but mostly their ironclad resolve to see our territory thrive. As Governor Bryan outlines his vision for the year ahead, know that this body is committed to rigorous oversight, thoughtful deliberation, and collaborative governance. Where we agree, we will move with speed. Where we differ, we will debate with respect. 0:55:14 Always, always, we will prioritize the people we serve. Our islands face real challenges. Our people deserve real solutions. Let us begin. Madam Clerk, please proceed with the quorum call. Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Senator Blyden, absent. Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr. Present. Senator Bocas, Jr., present. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff. Here. Senator DeGraff, present. Senator Ray Fonseca. I'm here. Senator Fonseca, present. Senator Novell E. Francis, Jr. I'm here. 0:56:12 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 2 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Senator Francis, Jr., present. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. Senator Francis Heiliger, absent. Senator Hubert L. Frederick. Senator Frederick, present. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Gittins, present. Senator Maurice C. James. Senator James, present. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Senator Johnson, present. Senator Carla J. Joseph. Senator Joseph, present. Present. Senator Clifford A. Joseph, Sr. Here. Senator Joseph, Sr. Present. Senator Avery L. Lewis. Present. Senator Lewis, present. Senator Milton E. Potter. Here. Senator Potter, present. 0:57:09 Senator Kurt A. Vaila. Here. Present. Mr. President, 13 members present, two absent at quorum. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. We have a quorum, and we are therefore prepared to proceed. Madam Clerk, are there any pieces of correspondence to be read into the record at this time? No, Mr. President. Thank you. Can you please proceed by reading today's agenda, this evening's agenda, into the record? 0:57:39 Consideration of floor agenda. The 36th legislature of the Virgin Islands will reconvene to receive the State of the Territory Address from the Honorable Albert Bryan Jr., Governor of the Virgin Islands. Introduction of the Honorable Stacey Plaskett, Esquire, delegate to the United States House of Representatives. Introduction of the Honorable Troganza A. Roche Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of the Virgin Islands. An introduction of the Honorable Albert Bryan Jr., Governor of the Virgin Islands. Mr. President, this concludes the reading of today's agenda. Mr. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. 0:58:07 At this time, we will begin by welcoming our special guests. We welcome the judicial branch led by the Honorable Chief Justice Reese Hodge. We welcome the Governor's Cabinet, led by Chief of Staff Kevin Williams. 0:58:40 Thank you. Thank you. We also welcome the leaders of the semi-autonomous instrumentalities. 0:59:43 Thank you. While you're being seated, we definitely would like to recognize Senator Marvin Blyden. 1:01:35 Please mark Senator Blyden as present. Thank you. We're going to recognize the Teacher of the Year for the St. Thomas St. John District, Ms. Jessica Sibley. Please stand. Thank you. Welcome, Ms. Sibley. And the Teacher of the Year for the St. Croix District, Ms. Joni Phillip. Please stand. Thank you. Welcome. We're also honored to have the Lieutenant Governor's mother, Ms. Iona Roach. Please stand. Welcome, Ms. Roach. We also have some special guests we want to welcome, visiting Taiwanese diplomatic delegation led by Mr. Charles Chiu-Yu, Director General, I apologize, accompanied by Mr. Frank Yu, Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Miami Consulate and of course I need to be allowed back in my house this evening I want to welcome my wife Ms. Paul Edwin Zen Potter at this time I'll ask our president to stand for a special 1:02:31 invocation by Father Anthony Abraham of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. Matthew 6 33 says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and everything else shall be added unto us. Let us pray. Heavenly Father with grateful hearts we thank you for this day we thank you for the many blessings that we have received we pray that your blessings will be with our governor and all those that lead in this territory we pray oh god for those that are going through difficult times lord may your holy spirit come for them may your blessings be upon these islands, and upon all of us who dwell, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 1:04:26 Please be seated. Thank you, Father Abraham. We'll now stand in recess for five minutes. Thank you. Thank you. 1:05:28 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 1:06:47 Thank you. Thank you. 1:08:17 Thank you. . 1:09:17 Thank you. Thank you. 1:10:17 so Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. 1:11:17 ¶¶ ¶¶ Thank you. 1:13:17 We'll be right back. THE GOVERNOR HAS JUST ARRIVED HERE AT THE CAPITAL BUILDING, THE MOTORCADES ARE CURRENTLY BEHIND US, AND HIS CABINET IS ALREADY SEATED AT THE EARL-B LEGISLATIVE HALL IN THE CHAMBERS UPSTAIRS HERE AT THE CAPITAL BUILDING. 1:14:47 IN THE BACKGROUND, WE CAN HEAR SOME PROTESTERS. OH, YEAH, THEY'VE BEEN LOUD AND GETTING LOUD. I'VE HEARD THE PROTESTERS. again i'd like to remind people hey you have the right to protest it is it is within your first amendment rights you know you hang on joke and say you have the right to be vexed yeah absolutely and they are definitely exercising their right to protest because they are loud yes we're here Okay. Session is back on the record. Before we proceed, I'd like to recognize Senator Alma-Francis Heiliger. 1:15:37 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 3 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Welcome, Senator Francis Heiliger. Please record Senator Francis Heiliger as present. We will now welcome the Honorable Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett, escorted by Majority Leader, the Honorable Court A. Vialy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We now welcome the Honorable Lieutenant Governor Tregenza A. Roach, escorted by Senate Secretary 1:16:23 the Honorable Avery L. Lewis. Thank you. 1:18:44 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Last but not least, 1:19:44 We welcome the Honorable Albert Bryan, Jr., Governor of the United States, Virgin Islands, for his State of the Territory Address, escorted by Senate Vice President, the Honorable Kenneth L. Gittins. Thank you. 1:22:14 Thank you. Thank you. 1:23:14 Governor, the floor is yours. Good evening. Please be seated. Father Anthony Abraham, Lieutenant Governor Tregenza A. Roach, Senate President Milton E. Potter and the members of the 36th Legislature, Chief Justice Reese S. Hodge and the Justices of the Supreme Court, Presiding Judge Jessica Gallivan and the Judges of the Superior Court, Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett, and Chief Judge Robert Molloy and Judges of the District Court, members of my Cabinet and Agency Heads, members of my staff, State Chair of the Democratic Party, Carol M. Burke, distinguished guests, and my fellow Virgin Islanders, Sumi and Rosie, good night. Before I start, I want to give a shout out to the kitchen staff down at Olamala, who I spent some time with today, and say a thank you to all the hardworking government workers that struggle every day through a lot of hard times. But tonight, as your governor, I stand with gratitude for the people who made this work possible, reverence for the institutions that keep our democracy strong, and an unshakable confidence that our future is bright. 1:24:14 Throughout our seven-year journey, I have gained inspiration from the greatest leadership manual in creation. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 remind us to trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thine ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy pass. The Most High has guided us safely through another year with an abundance of blessings and without any major disasters or emergencies. For that, we must all give pause, give thanks, and give praise for those blessings. 1:25:52 These Virgin Islands are built on the shoulders of many great individuals. This last year, we lost several of our bricklayers of our spiritual and culture. Javille Lawson, Javon Uncle Man Sussell, Louis B. Taylor, Jr., Austin Edgy Christian, and attorney Ezart Winter, Sr. I'm especially bereaved from the loss of my good friend, Yvonne Gallabere and the good work she'd done with the Council Society. 1:26:30 We pledge to keep their legacies alive in the way we live, create, and care for one another. In that same spirit of gratitude and remembrance, join me in honoring our service members of the Virgin Islands Army and Air National Guard. Airmen and soldiers continue to demonstrate their competence and readiness. This year, the United States Armed Forces once again showed that the Virgin Islands is the ideal home away from home. And that did not happen by chance. My administration leaned in and extended a clear invitation and worked closely with our federal and military partners to make sure that their visits were relaxing and safe. And as a result, the USS Gerald R. Ford and the Iwo Jima once again made several Ford calls to Crown Bay and Frederickstead. Our small businesses, taxi drivers, and tow operators can attest that economically it was a huge win. So thank you to all Virgin Islanders for showing them your hospitality on every single visit. In our commitment to service for both the active and inactive, last year we worked to expand access to care, improve the navigation of claims processing, and provide non-service connected veterans on St. Croix with no-cost airfare to medical appointments. Special thanks to Director Patrick Farrell and the Office of Veteran Affairs for continuing to champion this good work. 1:27:03 Over the past year, I chose to venture across oceans, and yes, continents, and get connected from whence we came. This was a transformative experience that all Virgin Islanders should experience at least once in their lifetime, and I am better for it. And this relationship with our kinfolk in West Africa should be nurtured. I would like to acknowledge the members of the West Africa delegation who are in our territory this week with us. With us tonight is the CEO from the Ghana Tourism Authority, Maame Efwa Wadayeto, and Prince Anthony Bart. 1:28:35 As your governor, my purpose has been simple · to deliver real progress for the Virgin Islands. I've tried to do that by being honest about our challenges, keeping my word, and making sure every part of your government treats Virgin Islanders with respect. I focus on growing our revenues by strengthening our economy and tourism, attracting new investments, securing federal support, and making sure that we collect what we are owed. we have used those revenues to steady our government, pay long overdue bills, shore up our retirement system, and provide the best quality of life for Virgin Islanders and our guests that we can afford. My goal has always been to take the wisdom of our elders and the vision of our team and turn it into action so that progress would outlast me or any single administration. Tonight in this 1:29:19 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 4 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address chamber, I will deliver my final State of the Territory Address. It is a moment to take stock, speak with candor, and I'll update you on the journey we have been on over the last seven years. I won't be brief by any standards, but I will be clear, because the stakes are too high for anything less. When I stood before you last year, we were progressing in the throes of great change. I reminded you of where we started together · record high unemployment, a pension system on the brink, deteriorating infrastructure, and staggering unpaid obligations. I reported that change was finally taking place. Tourism was surging, Royal Caribbean was bringing more cruise passengers to St. Croix, $22.5 billion had been pledged to restore our islands, and we launched Rebuild USVI to turn long-promised schools into active projects. 1:30:23 In every year of this administration, though, we have faced adversity that tested our resolves and the plans that we've laid, and the past year was no different. In many ways, 2025 brought some of the most difficult moments, not because we lost away, but because the world around us shifted under our feet. Even as we were trekking forward, behind every ribbon cutting and groundbreaking, we were constantly navigating forces beyond and within our shores that threatened to slow or derail the work we were doing hence i must be forthright and contextualize the challenges we faced in the last year and how we together chose to make them last year i brought a change in leadership in washington dc from our good friend president biden to president trump For a territory of our side that depends on strong federal partnership, that kind of transition is never just politics on television. It is a real-time shift in priorities, policies, and yes, relationships. Programs we had carefully aligned with federal rules and expectations suddenly required renewed defense and fresh advocacy. We had to reassess, realign, and move quickly to keep pace with the executive actions and the changing federal landscape. My team and I found ourselves back in old rooms with new decision makers, making sure the Virgin Islands were not treated as an afterthought. It is not about my personal feelings, political feelings. 1:31:11 Our mission is to secure the future of this territory no matter who sits in Congress or the Oval Office. At the same time, changes in federal trade policies and new tariff pressures created a real sense of uncertainty. Trade and tariff shifts may sound abstract, but for us, they affect everything from the cost of materials and fuel to the development of our ports and our tourism economy. Every single price increase lands heavier on our shores. This meant we had to fight to make sure that the cost of nationals' decisions did not disproportionately impact Virgin Islanders. 1:32:46 Our people simply cannot afford it. This past year, Delegate Plaskett and I confronted federal proposal to impose steep maritime fees on Chinese-built vessels, fees that could have disrupted our supply chain and inflated costs on everything from building supplies to groceries. But after our aggressive efforts, lobbying and working with the Trump administration, ultimately they exempted the Virgin Islands from these increased fees. 1:33:24 We would like to thank the delegate and our friends at Tropical who are leading this team effort that produce results for our people. We also faced uncertainty of the longest federal government shutdown in our nation history. When Washington stopped the needs of our people, did not. Families still needed food assistance, seniors still needed access to health care, and our Our government still had to operate whether programs had federal funding or not. And while many in this nation stood in lines at food banks, or unfortunately just went hungry, we ran the checks and fed our people. Our challenges continued as our children's futures were put at risk. 1:33:54 federal government forces prematurely withdrew $34 million in education stabilization grants. We huddled, strategized and responded. We secured a meeting with the United States Secretary of Education and that's with action and firm leadership led to the reversal of the decision allowing essential programs to proceed and vendors who provided goods and services to be paid. On top of that, our ongoing work to stabilize and transform the energy grid, particularly in St. Thomas-St. John District, did not go exactly as we expected. We experienced setbacks that contributed to rotating power outages and costly surges that damaged the equipment of residents and businesses alike. I know the frustration because I simply hear it everywhere I go. I hear it from the small businesses that lose inventory, the family that's sitting in the heat and the students that are studying by flashlight and when the power goes out everyone's patience goes out with it but over the course of this administration we have learned from our trials that transformation is never a straight line and that some of the pain is felt even as the improvements are being made and if that was not enough ransomware attacks ransomware attacks on our hospitals and health systems forced us to spend time, money, and energy protecting our people, facilities, and data. Cybersecurity upgrades are not visible like a new wing in the hospital, but they are just as essential. These threats and attacks cost us money than it could have been spent directly on giving health services to our people. But perhaps the most painful test of this term has been the conviction of three members of my own cabinet. From day one, the number one tenet of my administration has been to restore trust in our government and those who lead it. This administration is committed to integrity and does not tolerate leaders who abuse their position of power at the expense of our people. Integrity is not easy, but it is essential. This government operates under one of the most demanding procurement system in the nation, 1:34:53 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 5 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address with layers of checks and balances and balances and no checks. These policies are grounded in transparency and accountability. And even so, we still found it necessary to enhance our commitment through ethics training for our government employees and additional training for all individuals engaged in procurement. We also created and implemented a comprehensive code of conduct and are holding our employees to these rigorous standards. As your governor, I want you to hear this directly from me. I recommit to stamping out corruption, wherever it appears, and to protecting the trust you have placed in me and my cabinet. I'm asking you, the public, to walk with me in this work. When you see something wrong, report it. When you see something that does not look right, say so. We will investigate and act. 1:37:21 And wherever the investigation leads, we will always cooperate and support the pursuit of justice, seeking the light to reveal the truth. Even though it's the act of the few, it reflects on all of us, and we cannot allow the failures of the few to cripple our image or derail the tremendous opportunity we have before us as Virgin Islanders. All of these challenges could have knocked us off course, but they did not. Instead we became more agile, disciplined, and innovative in our governments. 1:38:20 I'm reminded every single day that progress in the Virgin Islands does not happen in a vacuum. It is occurring in the throes of great change, and yet we move forward. That is why even amid uncertainty in 2025, it became another banner year for the Virgin Islands. Not only did our economy remain strong, but we made good on promises to the people of the Virgin Islands. Because at the end of the day, that is what all of this is about. The people. 1:39:00 last year when I stood before you I made commitments among them I promised that we would keep paying down old tax refunds this past year we paid over 47 million to individuals to some success meant once meant 140 million paid in tax refunds over the span of an entire administration to date the Brian Roach administration has paid a half a billion dollars in tax refund that is progress it's progress that is rooted in the belief that if we can't refund to our people what is owed we are systematically impoverishing our own and i want to thank commissioner mccurdy and the team of the team at department of finance and director joe lee and the team at bureau of internal revenue for carrying out the heavy lift, the illustrious and esteemed Lieutenant Governor Trigenza Roach. 1:39:29 He has done an excellent job collecting the revenues that power our government. Now think about this, over the term of our administration, his office alone has collected almost 1 billion dollars you see we are modernizing how residents access core services through consolidation and facility upgrades including the purchase of the former first bank building senate of dla that will eventually become the home of our public facing divisions the office of the lieutenant governor through the division of banking insurance returned over 1 million dollars in unclaimed property and bank accounts to our residents, a million dollars. The money transmission revolving fund collected over 2.3 million in 2025. We work hard with this same legislation to get the language right and this fund will continue to give for years to come. Finally, after over a decade of planning and hard work, our street addressing initiative is on track to be completed this year this is huge this means gps systems that work not turn right by the white cam next to the mango tree it means improved emergency response and parcel delivery services for the virgin islands huge win for the people of the virgin islands and the brian roach administration Last year, when I stood here, I boldly stated, send me the bill and I will pay the retro. Senators you delivered and together we paid out over $21 million in retroactive payments. Thank you to Senator Novel Francis for sponsoring the bill and the other members of the 36th legislature for its passage. Only one of the most significant accomplishments in decades was securing an increase in the rum cover overrate permanently. 1:40:40 Administrations have been trying to do this since Ron DeLugo was a baby. With the assistance of our partners in Washington, D.C., including U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, Kevin Calwood, Terry Hellenese, and our lobbyists, we secured the permanent restoration of the rum cover rate to 13.25 proof per gallon forever. This security, this is security for our retirees for the next 30 years. Many said could not be done, but this administration do it and done. I want to thank the good Senator Avery Lewis for for passing the resolution to honor Senator Crapo, who is a great friend to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now, I committed to you that the Office of Disaster Recovery through RebuildUSVI would move major projects from concept to contracts. We consolidated projects into bundles and set a goal of issuing eight $1 billion packages. And in 2025, Director Adrienne Williams-Octolin and her team over-delivered. Today, more than $11.8 billion in federal recovery funds are under contract, launching construction on more than 36 complex projects. That means more than a dozen modernized schools, healthcare facilities, roads, and utilities. We went, I want you to listen to this. We went from administrations that once boasted that they had a capital budget of $10 million or $20 million annually. 1:42:52 We are dispensing $40 million a month. For the future of public safety, we executed the territorial fire station bundle, bringing our critical facilities into one coordinated construction push. Like the soon-to-be-named, can't-wait-for-it, the Darrell Moussey George Sr. Fire Station in Estates, Virginia. This will give our firefighters modern basis of operation and improve response times when emergencies strike. 1:44:41 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 6 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address In education, we move from design to delivery and into comprehensive rebuilding of our school system. On St. Thomas, the bundle advances the St. Thomas Administrative Center. The Locker, Janie Tewitt, Emmanuel Benjamin Oliver, Yvonne Milnerbowski, and Ivana Edora Kenz Schools. And we have active contracts for the main campus of Charlotte Amalie High School and Bertha C. Bushelter Middle School. The St. Croix bundles is in contracting phase and includes the Alexander Henderson, Alfredo Andrews, Claudio Marco, Pearl B. Larson Elementary Schools. We also executed contracts for St. Croix Central High School as well as the St. Croix Educational complex together these award total 13 school campuses across the territories and will give our students the learning environments they deserve in recovery health and senior care we are in the pre-construction phase for a full health and human services campus at nude hansen this year nude hansen comes down we are finalizing the contract for construction on the herbert grig home for the age on saint john we began pre-construction activities from myra keaton smith health center the morris de castro clinic and the new julia e sprow school for our roads and public utilities we are executing large underground contracts on st croix the north central bonding bundle combines underground power wastewater portable water replacements communications replacements and unified paving into a single progressive design bill contract on st thomas the east horizontal bundle delivers the same coordinated approach the one big approach reduces the disruption in surrounding neighborhoods and and prevents the same roads from being dug up more than once. 1:45:20 That gets on all of our nerves. We have received bids for the prudent replacement of the Richmond power plant in St. Croix and the Randolph-Harley power plant on St. Thomas. That's both power plants being replaced, even after all we have done already to them. Taking together these 2025 awards show that ODR and the Rebuild USVI initiative have shifted the recovery from planning to execution, turning federal obligations into active contracts, jobs, and progress in every district. 1:47:21 This past December, we kept our word and broke ground on the new Donna M. Christian Christensen Department of Health Building on St. Croix. Tonight, I want to thank Dr. Donna Christensen for all she has done for healthcare and all she has done for our administration and the people of the Virgin Islands. We are in the final stages of contracting and will soon select a contractor to rebuild the 1F Louis hospital. This thing has gone out to bid three times now. 1:48:03 We've secured all the funding, we've completed the design and are dedicated to the staff of GFL. We're making the final preparations now to vacate that hospital and so the demolition can begin this year. That same urgency has guided us to the system that powers everything we are rebuilding. A modern hospital cannot thrive on an unstable grid. That is why in my final four years in office, I have dedicated a tremendous amount of time to eliminating our perpetual energy crisis, a crisis that has plagued us in fiscal management, reliability, and most importantly, costs. 1:48:42 Now we are determined to make WAPA a renewable energy company. Our mission is simple. It's simple in concept, but Lord, is it complex in execution. Keep it on, make it cheap. This year, we delivered large-scale solar and battery projects that are finally changing how our grid works. Two new utility-scale solar farms at Estates Petronella and Hugginsburg, paired with battery storage, now deliver more than 30 megawatts. That's about two-thirds the daytime capacity on St. Croix, plus 30 megawatts of storage. That is cleaner, steadier power, and power that reduces fuel costs so rate payers are not held hostage by oil prices. Working with the 36th legislature, we expedited the coastal zone permits for a new solar and battery projects at Estate Fortuna here in St. Thomas, as well as Bovoni. When they are online, these solar farms will provide an additional 35 megawatts of capacity to the power needs of St. Thomas and St. John. These projects make the Virgin Islands a global leader in solar per capita. And at the same time, the Virgin Islands Energy Office expanded direct incentives for solar, battery systems, and efficient appliances, and provided public electric vehicle charging station. This means rebates on electric cars and appliances, 1% loans for residential solar systems, and free energy-saving appliances for our residents. Thank you, Director Kyle Fleming. Now, Commissioner Derrick Gabriel and his team 1:49:23 at the Department of Public Works have had an extraordinary year in both districts. Several bridges have been reconstructed on St. Croix, including East Airport Road Bridge, the Upper Love Connector Road Bridge, the Calcahoun Midland Road Bridge, and a bridge on Queen Mary Highway near Carlton. These were critical infrastructure repairs built to withstand tomorrow's flood and heavy rain events. We delivered by paving roads all over this territory, downtown Charlotte Amalia, First Avenue, the Fort Christian parking lot, La Grange, Peters Rest, South Shore Road, and the Airport Road. As promised, we broke ground on Mahogany Road and is now in full reconstruction going through the rainforest. As one of our many 40-year accomplishments by this administration, we finally have a dedicated turning lane at Containerport intersection on the Melvin-Evans Highway. 1:51:11 We finished the Clifton Hill adjoining roadway and there are streetlights for as far as the can see if that wasn't enough we delivered a 300 seat ferry vessel named the spirit of 1733 the largest ferry vessel in our vitran fleet connecting st thomas and st john this ferry will be complemented by the st croix st thomas ferry which is currently in design and and scheduled to carry both vehicles and passengers between the two base gates. 1:52:14 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 7 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address To top it off, we secured the funding for Veterans Drive Phase 2. This project has gone out a bit and will complement Veterans Drive Phase 1, providing substantial congestion relief to our residents and visitors on St. Thomas. We opened the DLA Gregory Transportation Center at Tirely King Airport, improving accessibility for locals and visitors. This year, we also took a major step forward at Crown Bay, working with the 36th Legislature in the Virgin Islands Port Authority. We consolidated and approved a lease for a $200 million public-private redevelopment that will modernize the upland areas and add a whole new cruise berth to St. Thomas. Thank you to my good friend, Director Dow, and the people at the Port Authority for this effort. But unfortunately, the side effect of all this success is inflation. As our economy grows, we must fight to keep the dream of homeownership within the reach for the people who are building the economy. 1:52:54 The VI Slice Moderate Income Home Ownership Program, which provides up to $200,000 grant, is directly investing in the American dream for Virgin Islanders. And as of the close of 2025, the program has successfully empowered 72 families to become first-time homeowners. These families not only became homeowners, but they also gained an asset that added an average of $90,000 to each of those family wealth. That is a legacy that any homeowner can be proud of. 1:54:04 That is why this year we authorize another $2 million for the SAIS program. program legislators we must pass legislation that will make this program permanent and put our people in their own homes it is in this very spot that i pledge our administration would execute the largest property acquisition in the history of the virgin islands and we did it we secured the purchase of over 2,400 acres at Maroon Ridge and added it to our territorial park system. This important part of our history will now be preserved forever. Thank you Commissioner Oriel and your team. During our election year activity it really showed Tregenza and I that people really needed low-cost entertainment and activities almost nightly the campaign headquarters would be abuzz to put it simply there was always something going on and last year i promised that we would make progress on our recreational facilities and provide low-cost healthy activities to our residents well the reynolds jackson sports conference can once again host baseball games in frederickstead another visible sign another visible sign of progress is the reopening of the vincent f mason senior coral resort park in frederickstead in 2025 we open a modern accessible pool and park where children are learning to swim and families gather not to be outdone the revitalization of edra frederick's ballpark is well underway with the completion of a 16 000 1:54:46 square foot skate park a new playground and shaded area for seating transforming this area in freedom hoy into a vibrant multi-use recreational hub but we knew we couldn't stop there we secured funding to install new lighting for the entire park and we are working with fifa to install a new soccer field which should be completed this year and no recreational facility would would be complete in today's age without internet. We dedicated a lot of time and effort to ensure that we provided free, free internet to those who need it. This year, we can boast that our territory-wide internet program is almost complete with over 50,000 individual users per month. It is in every park, playground, library, beach, public housing community. This gives every resident the opportunity participate in the global economy. Thank you to Stephen Adams at BINGN, Commissioner Roberts at Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation. Our efforts to improve public safety are no longer just plans on paper. In 2025 we added a new fire boat to our fleet enabling us to fight fires on the water and conduct marine and search rescue. This month we took position of not one, not two, not three, but seven new ambulances, replacing our aging fleet. 1:56:36 We are expanding our capacity across all three islands and now training and equipping our own EMTs and paramedics. I want to thank Director Stephens for steady leadership and to our first responders. First responders, you are the heartbeat of our public safety. You answered every alarm. You responded to every emergency. You handled all those late calls. Tonight on behalf of a grateful territory, we applaud your hard work and your commitment. We have also modernized our roads and our police, how we police our roads and our communities with our new e-citation system. can issue traffic ticks electronically and spend more time where the public needs them most out in our neighborhoods. And with the initial deployment of a real-time crime center, we now have a modern hub that brings together cameras, license plate readers, and data analysis to support investigation and guide patrols. This is 21st century policing in a small territory and it's already making a difference. Kudos to Commissioner Mario Brooks and our men and women in blue of the Virgin Islands Police Department. 1:58:11 These milestones are powerful reminders of how far we have come and how fortitude and persistence can lead to progress and opportunity for our people. You see, change is hard, but progress is even more difficult. So tonight, I want to offer a special thank you to the members of the 36th Legislature for standing with us as we navigated this past year. That partnership was not abstract. Together we moved on critical coastal zone management permits to improve reliability of the Water and Power Authority and strengthen our energy future. Together we secured $5 million to get horse racing moving again on St. Croix. Here we advance the redevelopment of Crown Bay, positioning our ports for greater tourism and commerce, and together we work to secure Frenchman's Reef and Bowie House as assets of the people of the Virgin Islands. 1:59:37 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 8 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address These are all concrete examples of what happens when we have a legislative and executive branch working together. And contrary to the rumor mill, the legislation I have not spent the past year at odds, at least not the whole year. We have debated. We disagreed. We have negotiated hard. But that spirit has allowed us to pass important legislation. Even when the politics were loud and the cameras were rolling, I am proud to say that tonight, In the face of it all, we remain focused, and the promises we made were kept to the people. See, in a small community like ours, every single rumor feels like news, and every headline can sound like a foregone conclusion. 2:00:39 Over these years, we've had our share of tough coverage and criticism, public disagreements, And that's before you even count the myriad of political distractions on Facebook and social media. And I respect the free and active press. It is essential to our democracy. But I also know that the noise can sometimes drown out the steady, unglamorous work being done on behalf of the people. Let me offer a simple thank you to the people of these islands. Your honesty keeps us grounded. Your patience keeps us humble. The resilience points the way, and everything worth noting tonight traces back to that, our people. But tonight is more about alleged programs and progress, challenges and accomplishments. 2:01:35 It is about how far we have come and where we intend to go next. That is why I fervently declare, plainly and without contradiction, as a record allows me to state that the state of the territory is anchored in progress. After all we have achieved in 2025, I'm happy to share tonight that our journey continues. Tonight I will outline plans for this year. Despite governing in the face of constant challenges, we remain resolute. Anchored in progress is not a finish line, it is a firm mooring in moving waters. 2:02:27 Even our greatest work leaves echoes yet to be answered. Every bright morning casts a shadow we must still light. So tonight from a place of gratitude and resolve, we turn our eyes to the horizon of 2026 and press forward with the purpose of improving the daily life of Virgin Islanders and the guests we extend a welcome to and let me begin with what touches every family health care in 2026 we will reopen the Charlotte Kimmelman Center Virgin Islanders will once again be able to receive comprehensive cancer care right here at home surrounded by family not in a hotel room on the mainland. We are working on modernizing our entire health care system. We are increasing access to care, building the state-of-the-art facilities, recruiting providers with diverse specialties, growing a stronger, more expansive health workforce, implementing modern health technology systems, and ensuring functional health exchange to securely share confidential medical records. But reopening and rebuilding facilities alone are not enough. They must be supported by better policies and a dynamic organizational structure. Since the start of my administration, we have advocated for a unified healthcare hospital system. Tonight, I stand fully with the Territorial Hospital Board to establish a single hospital system. By pooling resources and negotiating together our hospital will stretch every dollar further and deliver more consistent care from the first visit to recovery across the territory. I know you heard it all before but in the coming weeks you will see the action of a hospital board that is intent on unifying our system. 2:03:13 We are also collaborating with all the governors of all the insular territories in a coordinated effort to bring telehealth and health care to our people. This groundbreaking initiative combines our health records, it will improve diagnoses, it will track patients' progress and make billing collections more efficient for all our hospitals. It is not something any one of us can afford, but together we will make it way with all the territories. And now as health will undoubtedly find its footing, Learning must also lift our children higher. 2:05:09 We all know the age and strain of all our school campuses. I was on Olamala today. I attended that 50 years ago. John H. Woodson Junior High, built more than 43 years ago, is an example. And this this is one of our newer schools. In 2026, we will close that campus for good. And those students will walk into the new state of the art Arthur A. Richards Pre-K through 8 school. This new facility is awesome. It boasts a gym that doubles as shelter, a multipurpose library, a swimming pool, and the resilient infrastructure our children deserve. This will be the first new school to open in the territory in 30 years, years, complementing the other 13 already under contract. Now we have many, many competent well-trained teachers and they're leading this mission and showing through their work their commitment to the academic success of our students. Two perfect examples are with us this evening. First, the District Teacher of the Year for St. Thomas and St. Don is Miss Jessica Sibley, a fifth fifth grade teacher at Janey Tewitt Elementary School. 2:05:46 We got big up for the Savant School. Thank you. And in St. Croix, the district teacher of the year is Miss Joni Phillip, a sixth grade English language arts teacher at Ricardo Richards Elementary School. a blue a national blue ribbon school at arthur richards rica sorry ricardo richards our amazing teachers are developing the next great minds but a bright future also requires affordable housing in 2026 on st croix 106 newly redeveloped affordable homes will house families at david Hamilton Jackson Terrace, building on the 248 units already occupied at Walter I.M. Hodge. And on St. Thomas, pre-construction is underway for Tutu High-Rise apartment, designed with an on-site micro-gain. And as you turn the corner to Home Depot, you can see 84 modern homes at the new estate doing rising out of the ground similarly we are nearing completion of 90 homes under the envision tomorrow program building on the 88 homes that are already 2:07:13 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 9 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address completed and yes in williams delight we have provided grants that allow residents to own their homes this year we're making another 31 available for home ownership thank you senator maurice james for our work on that roads and public works are the threads that stitch our daily lives together in st croix we have secured 28 million to reconstruct and resurface east scenic la valley and south side roads as well as strand king and queen streets in downtown frederickstead To the people of Williams Delight, after a really long FEMA review process, I am pleased to announce that we will begin paving and drainage improvements in your neighborhood this year. In the St. Thomas St. John District, we will take major road projects spanning from Julian Jackson Road in the west to Estate Nazareth in the east, including Bovoni, Bolongo, and Skyline Drive. Public Works has also secured the funding for the much-anticipated Nardo-Tratman Drive. Right, though? This bypass road will ease the traffic along the Weymouth-Raymond Highway from Carsey-Less to the Fort Milliner intersection. Getting home just got a little bit easier. 2:09:24 these are steady investments that keep people and goods moving speaking of moving this year we will be deploying 28 new buses to include paratransit and the ability to transport our vulnerable population public walks again meanwhile the waste management authority has a new sheriff in town and we will begin building new convenience centers across the territory plaguing us for years and while we modernize how we manage our solid waste we are also confronting a far bigger non-neglected hazard beneath our feet but we must begin paying our fair share for solid waste disposal garbage disposal we cannot continue to expect reliable service or keep our vendors paid if we are not willing to pay what it costs. There's a simple truth in public service. Communities are measured by how they manage their waste and how they protect their people. This year, we will continue the phased camera installations across the territory. Adding to the cameras that have already been put up in St. John, and for the first time in our history, the Virgin Islands Police Department will actually be using drone technology to respond to emergency situations. 2:09:57 And while enforcement is important, a fair and accessible judiciary is paramount. Tonight, I am pleased to announce the nomination of Judge Denise M. Francois to the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands once confirmed this will be the first time in the court's history that it has a full complement of five justices and i'm pleased to i'm also pleased to announce the nomination of attorney renee m andre to the superior court of the virgin islands of the of the St. Thomas St. John District. 2:11:32 They will serve us well. During this administration, we have worked to protect the pastimes that make us who we are as Virgin Islanders by rebuilding and reimagining the courts, fields, and tracks where our stories are told. Central to our story is the tradition of has-re-sin. This past year, we hosted six major race days at Clinton Phipps, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money, new economic activity, and a renewed sense of pride in the sport of kinks. Thank you, South Kong Gaming. And meanwhile, we ended our relationship with VIGL, and now the potential for horse racing will be moving forward in St. Croix. But if we... 2:12:22 But if we are to return to horse racing in St. Croix, I really enjoy the Crucians coming to St. Thomas to race, but if we are to return to horse racing in St. Croix, it will require a little bit more than concrete and steel. Our administration is pursuing a comparable public-private partnership similar to the Clinton-Phipps Racetrack Agreement, only bigger. And under that framework, we expect to see real investment in the rebuilding of the Randall job james racetrack i look forward to submitting legislation within the next two weeks to bring this long-standing tradition back to life but in drafting the legislation in drafting the legislation to support this progress we saw the need to consolidate the entities that regulate gaming in the territory that is why tonight i am asking the members of this august body to support legislation that merges the virgin islands lottery and the casino control commission once and for all a single unified regulator means one rulebook consistent enforcement and lower cost to the people it also creates a stable dedicated revenue stream to support racetrack operations youth sports and cultural programs. I'm looking forward to the quick passage of that legislation. 2:13:10 I think one of the senators has already preempted me. Now those who would judge us, merely by the heights we have achieved, would do well to remember the depths from which we started. Kwame Nkrumah once said that. I understand that the human psyche will not allow one to fully appreciate the body of work while you are still toiling in the task. But I can assure you that our output has been vast and impactful and it has changed the course of these Virgin Islands for years to come. To truly grasp that progress though, we must look back at what we inherited and measure the territory's trajectory from whence we came. we've made seven trips around the sun and the final is the eight now eight is a rather profound number it's representative balance harmony prosperity and infinite potential has permit me a moment of introspection as one of only nine one of nine individuals elected governor of the virgin islands i have a deep appreciation for the efforts of those who came before me Each of my predecessors helped shape the Virgin Islands we know today, and in their own way made this administration successful. 2:14:42 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 10 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Tonight, I want to thank Governors DeYoung and Governor Mapp. They are very different leaders, but many of the achievements that we had rest on the the foundations that they laid. The push for renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, early childhood education, GRS reforms, retroactive wage payments, the Diageo-Rum agreement and initial Irma and Maria recovery efforts. Major projects such as Veterans Drive, Main Street, Nardo Trackman Drive, Crown Bay. All of them move forward during my tenure thanks in in part to the vision and the groundwork of former governors. 2:16:06 Now, I have learned that eight years is never enough to start and finish every initiative. I'm reminded of a story told me by my good friend, Ralph Gonzales, former prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He told me that in 2001, he asked Bush Stewart, the owner of Sandals, to build a Sandals resort in St. Vincent. Butch told him to build an airport first, and then he would build a hotel. In 2017, he completed the airport. And in 2024, not Butch, his son Adam, delivered the country's first sandals. 24 years. And tonight I have my good friend Storm Gonzalez, who's in the crowd with us. He's Let's give him a round of applause on the son of the comrade himself. 2:16:50 Twenty-four years of what would have been six gubernatorial terms later, they fulfilled the promise that is the anchor of St. Vincent's tourism industry. Progress don't happen overnight. No by luck. And it does not come if you try to go at it alone or refuse to bill or refuse to bill or refuse to bill on what was started before. I honor our former governors, and that is why I'm committed to ensuring that both their official portraits are completed before I leave office. Governor DeYoung's portrait will be unveiled early this quarter and Governor's map portrait. He was up there the other day taking pictures because it's already been commissioned. Now, when we started our journey to lead this territory, Tregenza and I knew that the challenges were ahead and that it would take fortitude and creativity to change course. Over the last seven years, we rode the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs, but never wavered, no matter the headwinds or the headlines. 2:17:47 And as I delve into these thoughts, I must reflect as far back as the administration's first state of the territory address, in which I advised that our territory was in distress. We inherited a government so strained that even meeting payroll was in doubt. The Virgin Islands government had borrowed $212 million for operations and couldn't borrow and send more. There was no cash reserve and we carried more than $270 million in vendor payment. Miss GRS contribution had become routine. The retirement system had four active lawsuits against the government. A court injunction blocked the collection of more than $40 million annually in excise taxes and GRS was underfunded by $5 billion. That's not rhetoric. That was the reality of the day. Let's face it, when we took office, a stop sign was a rare encounter. Not even the street lights were working, and there certainly wasn't no $8 billion in any bank. We had to rebuild this territory. That night, Lieutenant Governor Roach and I pledged to secure GRS, modernize government, fix Carlton Road, expand 3K to every school, and set a 20-year vision for the territory. We were going to cut our reliance on fossil fuels and strengthen our infrastructure. Those commitments became our guideposts and the path to restoring faith the government can still deliver. Now some of those promises were large and structural and others were as personal as a promise made to one young man. That night I pledged to Nakai Theodore that we would fix Carlton Road, one of many road projects that followed. Tonight Nakai is a big man. He's here with his mother, and he's proved with us that living proof of us that we kept our words. Nakai. 2:18:54 He was in Cloud Umako when we started, and now he's in college. Thank you, Nakai. I learned along the way that progress is never instant, But it comes when we honor the commitments and stay the course. In our second year, just as we steadied our feet, I thought it was going to be, you know, smooth sailing. A global pandemic arrived and tested every seam of our existence. The Brian Roach administration and the people of the Virgin Islands led one of the strongest, most proactive COVID-19 responses, not in the Caribbean, but in the world. 2:20:45 When COVID infiltrated our shores, the Brian Roach administration, we were already preparing. We coordinated with our federal partners and the local partners to secure our borders, expand our hospital capacity, and provide life-saving vaccines. With the announcement of the first known case in March 2020, we acted to issue masks and social distancing guidelines. We shuttered schools and government offices and moving classrooms and workers online. We created a phase alert system that clearly guided the public through every stage of the pandemic. We launched a travel portal. Let me in, please. Requiring negative COVID tests before entry and work closely with our cruise line to protect our border and economy. 2:21:21 They said that over two, three hundred people would die in the first three months. but over half a million tests were administered. More than 26,000 cases were identified, and over 70,000 of our people were vaccinated. Hospitals never became overrun. And while we mourned 133 lives lost, we saved countless more. We were in this together when some jurisdictions found it difficult to be neighborly. we were blessed to have the resources to fight so when sam the sailor needed care we opened our arms and provided the help he needed when the british virgin islands had limited access to 2:22:09 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 11 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address covet 19 vaccines we assisted them setting up our stuff on the docks with vaccinating their population and when every port in the caribbean closed the u.s virgin islands welcomed the boats to our shores thank you commissioner and connoisseur department of health and our entire team In our hardest days, it was faith that steadied us and kept us moving forward. When we hosted the first day of prayer at Government House, we opened the doors not just for ceremony, but so Muslims and Christians and Protestants and Catholics and even Rastafari could join in lifting this territory in faith, asking for wisdom and protection and strength to carry one another through. When the rest of the Caribbean was shut down, we remained open. We not only remained open, but we also allocated funds for small business grant. We awarded businesses up to $50,000. Premium pay rewarded COVID workers with over 40 million in checks and COVID scholarships were awarded to over 900 students, totaling $1 million. But through preparation and decisiveness, our territory stood strong. Together, we turn challenges into progress and adversity, into opportunity. And out of that gauntlet came purpose, purpose. We learned that creative and decisive leadership can turn constraint into opportunity. When doors close, we build new ones. When rules were rigid, we found lawful paths that served our people. That is the Brian Roach approach. Pragmatic, people-centered, and aimed at a broad prosperity. 2:24:08 Our economy is stronger today than ever before and certainly stronger than the one we inherited in 2019. And since then we have taken a conservative and responsible approach that has driven measurable growth. Our gross domestic product has grown from 3.9 billion in 2018 to an estimated 5 billion today. That is without the presence of the refinery. without the refinery working the unemployment rate dropped from 10.7 in 2018 to 3.6 today the lowest in our history apart from the pandemic years local revenues grew by an average of eight percent out annually from 830 million in 2018 to over a billion in 2022 in fact the growth was so strong that we took 40 million dollars that we used to put into the general fund from the run cover over and gave it to the grs this sacrifice means that in the last three years alone we have contributed over 120 million dollars of what used to do roads schools and other repairs and used it to secure our pension system on top of all the other money they're getting That is sacrifice and nevertheless, we continue to march on and continue to grow our revenue base because when we took office in 29, the government of the Virgin Islands overall debt was 2.2 billion. We proposed, managed and balanced budgets that matched estimated revenues resulting in a surplus, never happened before. We implemented a discipline line of credit to manage our cash flow, accelerate recovery 2:24:38 can pay vendors more reliably and for the first time in this government's history we activated the budget stabilization fund commonly known as the rainy day fund that fund today has over 10 million dollars sitting on it through all the challenges and i want i like to say these things because they're factual and can be fact-checked because through all the challenges we confronted we have actually managed to reduce reduce the overall debt by the of the Virgin Islands by 25 percent from 2.2 billion to 1.6 billion today people I was talking about what the federal government could do our debt represents 32 percent of our GDP the United States one of the most powerful countries in the world, their debt is a hundred and twenty percent of their GDP, four times what ours is. But as we finish this term the story is simple. We took an economy that was fragile and uncertain and through discipline, investment and partnership, we have positioned the Virgin Islands for sustained growth and opportunity for years to come. When we leave office we will leave more than 70 million in cash reserve and a lot less debt. That is anchored in progress. But I think one of the most important ways we began to rebuild in trust is by doing right by our public workers, our servants, public servants. Early in my term we addressed one of the many demands of the people asked, that we repay the 8% salary cut from 2011 and altogether we paid 45 million in that debt and over the seven years we've made it a priority to chip away at the mountain of old retroactive pay from 1982 we owe this debt we deliver more than 66 million in retro wages to current and retired government employees this ain't in a speech but to my people are going to try to get out some this year too i don't know how but we're going to try 2:26:29 But this is the largest sustained effort to pay down that debt in the history of our Virgin Islands. We did this because we understand what these funds mean to Virgin Islands families. You know what it's like when you retire on $13,000 a year and bought a gown from $1.35 to $8.99? We understand what it means to families. That is also why we found the funds to support the minimum government's salary increase from 27 to 35,000 it's not that we don't want people to get money we just want to make sure we got the money to pay when this was proposed we were the sole advocates for the private sector employees how can the government set the minimum wage at $16.85 and leave the private sector employees at $10.25. I'd like to thank the good Senator Franklin Johnson for hearing our plea and taking the steps to correct this injustice. 2:28:41 It is now law. We signed it into law. It's time to take a bow. But at the same time, every wage agreement we negotiated with our union was structured honestly and funded in the budget so that raises were paid when promised and did not turn into tomorrow's retro. The result is that we are steadily reducing the retroactive balance that we inherited while refusing to add a single dollar of unfunded wage obligations to our people. Thank you, Chief Negotiator Josh Springer. Now, over 2:29:53 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 12 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address the course of our tenure here, we have secured over one hundred and eighty million dollars in settlement funds for the people of the Virgin Islands all of these from lawsuits initiated by our Department of Justice those resources are being directed into prevention and treatment survivor support victim services and stronger enforcement while also helping community organization expand the work they do every day. It's with these same funds that this year we bought a brand new home for Nana's baby children home and compliments of the 36th legislature and the people of the Virgin Islands. I want to thank Gordon Ray, the Attorney General and all our attorneys and people that work under the Department of Justice for their tireless work on our behalf. even before i took off as a single greatest threat to our government and our families was the grs was not only a threat to the government employees it was a threat to the economy of the virgin islands because if retirees don't get their money and no insurance it would be a disaster the actuaries were clear that if we did nothing the system would have run out of money two years ago 2023 and retirees who had served us for decades would face the unthinkable risk of not getting a pension i could not accept that we could not accept that we made it our mission to protect the dignity of our retirees and to make sure that men and women who kept this government running would not be left behind working with the legislature and our financial team we did something that people said could not be done you can hear that a lot we created a real rescue plan not another study we restructured our rum cover bonds and use the saving to fund the retirement system in addition we sell four lawsuits against the government some that were decades old and reduce the processing processing time that it took to retire more than 90 percent people couldn't retire the government owed the retirement system money and because of that work that the grs have already received hundreds of millions of dollars we continue to urge though that it needs reforms It's like social security, you can't just fix it one time, you have to keep fixing it because inflation keeps going up. 2:31:17 Securing the permanent rum cover over perhaps was one of the most important victories of the administration. So when I talk about being anchored in progress, this is what I mean. We took a system that was on the verge of collapse and gave it a lifeline measure in decades. And long after we leave office, history will judge this rescue of GRS as one of the most consequential achievements, not for me, for our people. When we talked about rebuilding this economy, I knew we needed more than just a list of projects. We need a roadmap. 2:32:57 That is why working with the Economic Development Authority, we launched Vision 2040, built with the voices of thousands of Virgin Islanders who contributed. Vision 2040 called for substantial investment in our blue economy. But now, all these efforts are being undermined by the British Virgin Islands and the outrageous increase in maritime fees. They are friends and neighbors, but we are exploring every option, including working with our federal partners to achieve parity. We respect that the BVI needs additional revenue to pave their roads. 2:33:32 They don't have 25 billion dollars. They need money to build their infrastructure and move their society forward. But we too have to eat. And their policy should not and will not create barriers in these Virgin Islands that impede our economy and commerce. After years of trying to get new hotel projects in the ground, 2025 we saw the hotel development act doing exactly what it was meant to do this past august we opened the 126 room hampton by hilton and st thomas the first newly built large skate hotel in more than 30 years its completion is a powerful symbol that our tourism product is being rebuilt and modernized in a real and lasting way and over these seven years we have taken tourism to record highs and used it as a platform to tell a bigger story about who we are as Virgin Islanders. Visitor arrivals increased from 1.6 million in 2019 to 2.5 million in 2025. Hotel occupancy rose on an average from 38 to 61 percent. We achieved an average daily cruise ship visitor spend of 166 dollars a day. It's the second highest in the Caribbean and once again our cruise business is now among the strongest in the eastern caribbean we saw an exponential increase in cruise arrivals in st croix in a single year from 2019 to the present passenger arrivals have quadrupled from fewer than 60 000 to more than 241 000 tourists visiting christ for frederick Stead Port every year. We also took over Carnival. We built a modern tourism product that showcased our culture and our people. And through our division of festivals and cultural heritage, we enhanced our carnivals and festivals. We used that platform to attract major brands like Uba Soka and to package our music, food, and culture for the region and the diaspora, we strengthened our marketing 2:34:12 with St. Croix, a vibe like no other. And our territory-wide, naturally, and rhythm brand, we ventured into new markets with partnerships with professional sports teams like the New York Jets and sponsored international events like DC United versus Bermuda at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex. From reopening and adding flagship hotels and eco-resorts to winning national recognition as an innovative, top-ranked destination, we have not only rebuilt tourism, but also repositioned it as a more diversified, resilient, and locally rooted pillar of our economy. This year at the Caribbean Awards, we were named Caribbean Cruise Destination of the Year and Experiential Destination of the Year. Thank you to Commissioner Jennifer Madarangas-King and the work of former Commissioner Joseph Busselta. 2:36:22 At the start of this administration, far too much of our government was still on paper. Vendors had to walk contracts from desk to desk. It was hard to know where a purchase order stood, and the public had no simple way to see how their tax 2:37:17 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 13 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address dollars were being spent. I made commitment to modernize those systems. Today procurement is faster and fairer, and transparency is more than just a campaign process. Promise. We launched GVI Buy as our first government-wide e-procurement and contract system. At the same time, we launched our open finance portal and transparency website, giving the public for the first time a clear window into revenues, budgets, payroll, and expenditures. Thank you, Commissioner Alicia Alejandro and Director Julio Reimer. No matter what they say, together we have made modernization and openness part of the daily practice of the Virgin Islands government. When we took office in 29, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles was a symbol of everything people disliked about government. Long lines, outdated systems, too much paperwork. We committed to a different future and transformed B&B into one of our most modern customer-centered agencies. Today, residents can renew their registration and licenses online and book appointments. What used to take, people used to take the day off to go get licensed. Now you could do it as little as 15 minutes from the house, 24-7-365. Thank you, Director Barbara McIntyre. We're making improvements along with electronics and electronic citations, and we've integrated with the courts now, and now we've approved the BMV to allow inspection-free registration for vehicles up to 10 years old. You don't got to go down no more. 2:38:30 Our administration's successful implementation of technology has improved government services and operations and encouraged private sector growth. Today, from your phone, you could start a business, register it as the Lieutenant Governor, find out how much money you owe on taxes for it, submit the permits, go to get the trademarks and corporations, file and pay your taxes all from your cell phone. That is progress. 2:39:17 A key part of our shift from crisis to strategy was the creation of ODR. In our first year, established ODR as a dedicated team within the Public Finance Authority whose only mission is to manage and drive our recovery. Before ODR, federal disaster dollars were scattered across agencies and projects that move way too slowly. Today we have one office tracking every project, every obligation and every deadline and coordinating directly with FEMA, HUD and all our federal partners. We grew and secured our recovery from a potential $8 billion to an obligated $25 billion. 2:39:54 Further, you have to remember there would be no recovery, no recovery if we had not reduce the federal match. The Virgin Islands government and the people of the Virgin Islands would have to find $2.5 billion of its own to match the $25 billion that was given from the federal government. But through ODR and our work with the Biden administration, we reduce that from 10% to 2%, saving the Virgin Islands over $2 billion. dollars they live simply get the funds spend the funds and spend it correctly thank you director williams octolin and the team at oer i wasn't going to be brief because i want to refresh your memory because in 2022 i signed the emergency the merger of the fire and service emergency medical services into a single entity. Y'all remember? The ambulance have to come from Christian Stead to Frederick Stead. People dying while they're waiting on an ambulance. 2:40:32 Even here, three ambulance callers at the same time we can do it. We did it. The legislature, we integrated these key public safety agencies. And it's a reform that people have been working on for 25 years. VITEMA, we restored the modernized tsunami warning system. We activated emergency operations for six separate incidents, hurricanes, tropical storms, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bovoni landfill fire, the lead and water crisis. Y'all remember that? And the WAPA energy crisis. Every administration faces emergencies, but no one has successfully managed as many complex events as we have. In October 2024, after four years of preparation, the U.S. Virgin Islands received full accreditation for its emergency management program. We are the first and only U.S. territory to receive. 2:41:41 Thank you, Director Gasheng and Atima Baitima. When we came into office in 2019, the state of health care in these Virgin Islands reflected years of strain and storm. On St. Croix 1F Louis, we were still operating in substandard space and temporary configurations. Let me say plenty. You have to go outside to use the bathroom. Remember that? Yes. Schneider was aging and they needed major upgrades. Behavioral health services were fragmented. Public health data were outdated and we were trying. We were trying to find people we lost in the storm. 2:42:36 They went to the states and nobody had any idea where they went. Our Medicaid program faced federal cops on an unfavorable match, so even when the need was clear, we couldn't pay, we couldn't pay the match. From the beginning, we set out on a plan for healthier horizons. We pushed telehealth and technology. We stood up GFL North as an interim facility while we pursued a new permanent hospital. But perhaps the most significant policy achievement in healthcare was securing the Medicaid match permanently. For years, we struggled with the match that forced prior governors to cover 45% of the costs. This was onerous on our health care system, but through our persistence, we secured this match at 17% permanently. 2:43:13 We expanded the income limits to make people more eligible under our service. Under our administration, we provided care to over 29,000 Virgin Islanders annually. Thank you, Delegate Plaskett, for your work on this. We did this along 2:44:01 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 14 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address community partners who filled critical gaps. When the local dialysis centre threatened to close, we worked with the legislature to secure funding and expand capacity, enabling Schneider Regional to open a vacant wing and expand dialysis service we also supported a startup of the 13 chair virgin islands health care foundation dialysis center on saint croix we funded it two million dollars we funded the virgin alice diabetes center of excellence which delivers tailored care and education and outreach to insured to the uninsured and the most at risk throughout the territory now more virgin islanders receive critical care right here at home and when we said we would stabilize and rebuild health care in the virgin islands we meant both bricks and mortar and the policy that sustains it health care and energy have been two of our most long-standing deeply rooted challenges and two of the issues our people feel most deeply about and we're committed to tackle both in 2017 the hurricane shattered an electrical system that had to be rebuilt for the third time completely rebuilt for the third time in 30 years we knew that if we did not fix energy nothing else in our recovery would stand when we began this journey to stabilize wapa we knew that the darkest hour no pun intended would come before the dawn we started slowly using our federal funds to purchase the wartsilla generator generators we launched a territory-wide composite pole installation effort replacing old wooden poles with hurricane the resistant pole it's now 90 percent complete we went out and we purchased VITAL propane assets from VITAL, 140 million dollars. As a result, WAPA has been able to reduce its fuel transportation costs. We went out and we paid down to 26 million dollars the government owed, which went as high as a hundred million dollars they owed WAPA for years. We paid it and moved the central government and hospital into a single-payer system. So today, we remain current with WAPA. We took a hundred million in our funds to ensure that your rates did not go up. By 2023 I had seen enough I declared a state of emergency so we could get faster, clear robots. We invested additional opera dollars to purchase new generation equipment and we once again used a rainy day fund to clear more than 11 million in past due balances owed not by central government by semi-autonomous agencies and together these actions did not solve every problem at WAPA, but they turn the corner from crisis management to a real path forward. WAPA has begun to make real progress. The government is paying its WAPA bills on time. 2:45:59 The new solar facilities at Bologna and Fortuna and St. Thomas will increase generation, reducing the likelihood of island-wide outages. That should happen by this summer. And yes, I can announce that the new Wartsella units are now operating on propane. When energy costs go down, every body's costs go down and you have more money in your pocket. But like the rest of the country, we have been beaten by winds of inflation. Every single thing has gone up. Everything except your light bill. Never in our history of our territory has the rate remained the same or lower for seven consecutive years. But that's not enough. Kyle, tonight I call on WAPA and the Public Service Commission to immediately take steps to lower the rate within the first quarter of this year so that our families can feel some relief. 2:47:05 But it won't mean anything if our people cannot accurately get their bill. That is why in this upcoming year, WAPA will begin rolling out its new automated metering infrastructure to accurately read meters. This will cure the excessive estimating and erratic billing that has become far too common. Not only will the bell be correct, but it will be a little bit lower, leaving more for our families and discretion incomes. But the final fix for WAPA, however, will come when we solve its financial problems. We can harden the system and modernize generation, but we must also fix the balance sheet. WAPA is working real hard on that solution. 2:48:04 I'm asking senators to join me in passing the reforms and tools we need to put the utility on solid financial footing. Only then we will fully deliver what our people deserve, power that is more reliable, more resilient, and over time way more affordable. In 2019, too many of our people measured the gap between promise and reality in every pothole every flooded intersection and every dark stretch of highway major arteries throughout the territory and streets in Christianstead and Charlotte Amalia have gone far too long without serious investment an entire neighborhood from cyan farm to Coral Bay were living with road connections and drainage that simply were not acceptable and over the last seven years we have worked hard to change that picture in a systemic way working with our federal partners dpw advanced priority surfing projects across the territory including queen mary highway on st croix center light road on st john and key roads on st thomas with a balanced slate of projects in both districts we built we rebuilt a rehabilitated signature corridors and community roads garden street long pot mountain top aerial melchor drive savann main street mandala miss gun to north star village on st thomas and st john fish fry road border mountain francis bay and on st croix neighborhood roads like strawberry hill whim estate lorraine mount pleasant herman hill union of mount washington estate richmond north side king street and even more even on water island we've paved 60 of the roads i don't know how long that is we tackle long-standing drainage problems at coral bay remember the whole gallows bay used to flood out throughout the downtown charlotte amali lancen completed the first avenue drainage project is complete now and advanced road repairs in downtown christensen where we paved the whole thing and frederick stead too in phases so that historic towns are now more beautiful and resilient you remember in saint thomas when all the roads were falling off the hill 2:48:49 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 15 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address pilgrim terrace clearview uh hull bay uh bordeaux and up black point we showed up all of those things ensuring those roads will last for decades to come and as i look back from 2019 to tonight the story of public work is that we move from patching problems to executing a real plan delivering safer and smoother roads better drainage brighter highways stronger bridges and in more modern ferry and transit networks we're not finished but we're no longer stuck in neutral when we took office the virgin islands had no territorial park system our national parks were world class but our parks but our local beaches and lands all of them were at risk of being sold people. I believe that some places should remain with us, the people, forever. By working with the legislature and federal partners, we established the Virgin Islands Territorial Parks System and created the Division of Territorial Parks and protected areas with DPNR to manage it. For the first time, the government has a dedicated team to protect are beaches, bays, forests and quays. The system includes popular area like Kass Key, Bovone Key and parts of Hassel Island on St. Thomas, Kramer's Park and Great Salt Pond on St. Croix, Oppenheimer Beach on St. John. These are locations where Virgin Islanders swim, fish and gather. Now they're permanently designated as parks for future generations. We made the largest land conservation purchase in the history of the Virgin Islands with maroon, with what is now the Maroon Sanctuary Territorial Park, protecting almost 4% of the coastline on St. Croix. 2:51:01 I believe our greatest achievement is ensuring that these lands will not be sold, but will remain in the hands of the people of the Virgin Islands forever. And long after the speeches and ribbon curtains, families will still enjoy these parks. This is a legacy of a government that plans for the future, not just the next election. In 2019, our ports reflected years of underinvestment and we chose to change course. On St. Thomas, we were allocated $25 million to dredge Charlotte and Mali Harbour, positioning Waiko to welcome larger vessels and strengthen both tourism and cargo. I'm pleased to tell you tonight that after the second time for this going out, we do have five bids in and we'll be awarding a contractor to get that started this year. 2:52:50 We also secured the Tiger Grant funding for Crown Bay. We did it so well we got two Tiger Grants, we have to get one back, and designated the Adelita Cancrine campus for long overdue redevelopment. This year we will begin demolishing that site to expand capacity and improve operations and unlock new opportunities on the waterfront. On St. Croix, we strengthened the container port by relocating freight from Gallows Bay and creating room for smarter port operations and more space for community and tourism. We upgraded the airport departure lounge and improved key facilities through public-private partnership, helping us attract and retain more airlift to the Virgin Islands. These are not isolated projects, they are connected investments in how we move people, move goods and build an economy that is ready for what comes next. Over the last seven years, we have transitioned from managing crises to crafting a comprehensive housing strategy working hand in hand with the virgin islands housing finance authority odr and eda we rolled out initiatives such as envision vi slice own a lot build a home to support home repair construction we've made significant strides by completing numerous affordable and mixed income projects adding or preserving over 643 units for seniors families and first-time home buyers including 300 units for home in ownership most of them available at Bellevue Village and Calabash Boom in St. John also some in Loverland creating new homeowners on the little island in line with our workforce security initiative and vision 2040 the Virgin Islands Department of Labor has moved from crisis management to strategic growth on St. Thomas we ended nearly 40 years of leasing and more than $9.7 million in rent payments when we 2:53:40 purchased the Department of Labor building at Comprins and Skada. We also strengthened the systems at Labor. The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, this is one that's special to me because you know I was a Labor Commissioner. The Trust Fund grew to a debt of $100 million. The Great Recession, the refinery closure and covert created a chasm that we thought would never get fixed for years employers bored that cost we acted and adopted to plan to fully retire that burdensome loan today from a hundred million that debt is to 22 million dollars now this june we will totally pay it off once again our fund will be solvent and hiring employee will become less expensive for our business people we consolidated government insurance and workers compensation collected 6.8 in employer contribution and increased benefits after years in the red we have a workers confidence compensation solvent compensation system that is solvent once again thank you commissioner of Molloy and your team at the Virgin Island Department of Labor. 2:55:36 Education and training are the foundation of a vibrant economy and a thriving society. We have to give people, our people, access to the tools they need to compete if we are to grow as a society. Even before entering office, we set the stage as a former senator 32nd Legislature, Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach sponsored legislation providing free tuition at the University of the Virgin Islands for all Virgin Islands high school graduates. We further expanded that effort and for the past two academic years, part-time and online students have had the opportunity to attend the UVI at no cost to them. We are the first state or territory to implement or maintain this in the country our priority in early education is yielding results test scores have been improving in our elementary schools pre-k classrooms are now in every single public school we have increased graduation rates and test participation and proficiency in English language arts mathematics and science equally we focused on ensuring Head Start remains relevant and the essential component of 2:57:03 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 16 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address learning and development paradigm. We began with the renovation in some cases the total rebuild of six new Head Start learning centers. In September 2025 Coos Bay Head Start welcomed learners. Once again it is abuzz with young precocious minds eager to explore the world. In 2026 we will add four additional Head Start. Thank You Commissioner George and your team at the village of the department of human services from the first day i took office i had a simple dream i wanted every talented young virgin islander to know that there's a real path to come home serve the people and build a world-class career right here that dream took shape in 2021 when i unveiled the gvi fellows program an internship designed to provide college graduates with training exposure and networking opportunities within their own government. To date, 54 college graduates and young professionals have served as GVI fellows, placed throughout 12 departments and agency. 62% of our fellows are still working in this Virgin Islands government. And 38% have gone to graduate school or in the private sector. Thank you, Director Cindy Richardson, for leading this effort. My commitment to growing this economy by strengthening our workforce did not begin or end with that effort. We signed union contracts, granted substantial salary increases, and ensured that the starting salary for teachers is now $52,500, not $44,000 like when we started. 2:58:56 And the average starting salary for a nurse is $75,000. In fact, government salaries are up 25% on average, $10,000. And the average age of our employees has actually been reduced by 10 years. We're making government younger, stronger, and building a new generation of public servants who love these islands, understand our history, and have the skills to lead us into the future. When the next generation measures this era, It will see a government that finished the work that others talked about for 40 years. 3:00:02 In one administration, we moved the land and water use plan from concept to reality, put GRS back on a path to solvency, paid long overdue retroactive wages and secured permanent federal rum cover revenue so future leaders can plan with confidence. We made advancement to construct the first public high school in St. John and new schools across the territory, brought income tax refund close to being fully current and opened the first new large hotel in more than three decades. We advanced our Bureau of Corrections and VIPD towards compliance with the consent decrees and turned WAPA away from pure fossil fuel dependence toward utility-scale solar. We created the first territorial park system, restored the 8% salary cut that haunted our public service. Unified fire and EMS so that our people receive improved emergency care. Taken together, these are the kinds of structural and generational changes that define a new era and set a new standard for what an administration should accomplish. But in the next four years, the Virgin Islands will face different challenges, different than what we inherited in 2019. and rising costs will keep testing household budgets and stretching the distance between wages and what life demands the government's focus on construction and revenue indicates strong demand in the housing and infrastructure years for years to come by 2025 the u.s virgin islands experience an inflation rate nearly three times that of the mainland three times and it's only going to get worse we are in the stages of recovery that will certainly test our capacity nearly 25 billion is not a talking point it is clinics classroom roads and ports power and public safety rebuild to last that opportunity requires people plans do not pour concrete funding does not wire a grid the next four years will demand more skilled workers stronger institutions and the discipline to deliver with transparency and pride. Rebuilding is only part of the assignment. As we modernize clinics, schools, and ports, we must maintain them. It takes will to cut ribbon. It takes character to get the lights on, the roof seal, the system service, and the standards high long after the cameras are gone. 3:00:40 Maintenance is not glamorous, but is the difference between progress that holds and progress that slips. The next administration will inherit real pressure. The road ahead is demanding. It's also worthy if we meet it with skills, seriousness, and unity. What we rebuild will be more than just structures and continuity. It will be confidence. It will be capacity. It will be a future our children can stand on. And as we talk honestly, we must address the future of healthcare and infrastructure and how do we pay for it for seven years we have stretched every federal dollar reprogrammed our budgets and tighten our belts to stabilize this government but if we want hospitals that truly meet modern standards and roads roads that are properly maintained we cannot rely on federal support alone at some point we as virgin elleners must decide what level of service we want and what we are willing to get it what we are willing to investigate it that is why i'm asking this body to consider placing a simple question before the voters at the next election let's call it a private citizen initiative that lets the people themselves decide whether to dedicate a small targeted share of our own income towards priorities that touch every life in these islands Under this initiative, people will be asked whether they support a 1% income tax dedicated solely to our hospitals to help fund the basic level of universal insurance so that no Virgin Islander is left without essential care. They would also be asked whether they support a 1% income tax dedicated strictly to maintaining local roads for 15 years and then it's done with the option to support the maintenance 3:03:10 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 17 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address of private roads that connect our neighbourhoods and our communities. This is not a decision for one governor or for a legislature, it is a choice about our shared future that I believe belongs in the hands of the people. If the voters approve it, those funds would be locked in for these purposes, not to grow the government for its own sake, but to guarantee that our hospitals are open, staffed and modern. When I first asked you to trust me with this office, I was a 40-something-year-old son of these islands with a head full of black hair and ghosts and a heart full of concern for the future i did not walk into government house alone i walked in with the great tigrenza roach the cabinet of committed public servants and with thousands of virgin islanders who believe that if we faced our hardest problems head on we could move these islands forward tonight i have given a replay, a record of how we met the storms with grit, met a pandemic with discipline, met shifting federal winds with steady advocacy, and met setbacks with the kind of creativity small islands are forced to master to survive and thrive. We did not inherit ease. We inherited longstanding challenges, and we continue to meet them head on. 3:04:58 I stand here tonight knowing I am only one of nine individuals elected by our people to lead this territory. I did not start this journey, and I will not finish it. Because the stories of these Virgin Islands does not belong to any one governor, it belongs to our people, generation after generation, carried forward by love for home and the steady will to keep building this home tonight tonight i honor the service of these governors evans king louis farrelly schneider turnbull the young and map each faced the challenges of their time and left lessons that shaped what came next. Still every administration is measured by what it confronts, what it chooses and ultimately what it delivers. We are doing our work in our time moving this territory forward, yet the work of building a fair, safe and prosperous Virgin Islands is never ever gonna be finished. And that is why I believe history will remember this season long after the speeches fade, the headline change, not by what we promised under the bright lights but what we built when it was hard because this administration chose to do hard things. It will judge us by what we protected, preserved and demanded for our people when it would have been easier to put it off, kick the can down the road, save it for tomorrow. In that way I can say with a clear conscience. We did not simply manage the moment, we changed the course. 3:06:18 We changed the course when we moved recovery from paper to pavement, from renderings to projects. We changed the course when we refused to let energy remain a permanent excuse and started to turning our grid toward the future. We changed the course when we stopped accepting a government held together by good intentions and chose responsible planning over political comfort. This is what progress looks like. Not perfect, not instant, but real. You see, real progress lasts when it is rooted in something deeper than policy and projects. So before I give you my final charge, I want to name what has always been our greatest resource, us, our people. We are more than a destination on a map. We are the laughter in the festival village, the rhythm of the bambula drum that pulls you forward, the hymn that finds you when you need strength. We are the hands that fix what breaks, the elders who remind us that dignity and integrity are not negotiable, and the young people who keep surprising us with the brilliance and the resolve. Now let me be frank, we have not done everything. There are plenty of goals unfinished problems still up stubborn and work still waiting but we are not standing still and we continue to raise the bar i will always be grateful to the people who challenged us pushed us and held us accountable because that is the way a democracy stays strong so tonight i leave you with this charge do not let cynicism become our culture do not let cynicism become our culture They have told me many times that it could not be done and we did it. Do not let quick outrage replace careful thought. Do not let the difficulty of change convince you that change is impossible. Progress is not a spectator sport. The next chapter of self-governance in these Virgin Islands will require citizens who vote with purpose. who hold their leaders accountable without tearing down the whole house, and citizens 3:08:16 who show up to build because the work ahead is worthy work. So let those who do not understand our story say what they want. Let the storms come and go. Our anchor holds. It holds because of the work we have done as a people, together, united in pride and hope to change the course of these islands we call home. And here is what I know with every fiber in me, that if we hold our course, if we keep our faith strong and our standard high, then our best days are not behind us. They are certainly in front of us. God bless you and God bless these beautiful of the United States. Love you! 3:10:25 Thank you. Thank you. 3:11:41 So we will now have the departure of our lieutenant governor. And you may be seated, you may be seated. Thank you. Thank you. 3:12:41 We'll now have the departure of the Honorable Congresswoman Stacy E. Plaskett. Thank you. 3:14:06 Followed by the departure of the Honorable Chief Justice, Reese Hodge, and the Judiciary. Followed by Chief of Staff Kevin Williams. 3:15:06 One second, Chief, Mr. Chief of Staff. We'll let the judiciary clear the area so we don't have a backlog. You'll have to sit with us for another 10 minutes as the Governor clears the area downstairs. Thank you. Thank you. so ¶¶ 3:16:06 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 18 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address so Thank you. 3:19:06 We'll be right back. Thanks for your patience, Chief of Staff, Kevin Williams, and the Governor's Cabinet. 3:20:06 You are free to, free to depart. Followed by the semi-autonomous instrumentalities. Thank you. 3:20:47 Oh, my God. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. 3:21:55 And the legislative session of January 12, 2026, continued on January 26, 2026, is now adjourned. We ask the viewing and listening audience to remain tuned in for Senate reactions to the State of the Territory Address and the Legislature's post-address coverage. Thank you very much. Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 3:22:53 Oh, my God. Thank you. 3:25:53 Thank you. so Thank you. [2 such phrases repeated 10 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 3:26:53 Thank you. Thank you. 3:33:53 just concluded his 2026 State of the Territory Address here at the Capitol Building. He touched on various topics from wages and infrastructure to the economy, to travel and tourism. But now we are transitioning into Senate reactions. And our very own Alvin Batiste will conduct the first interview with the President of the 36th Legislature, Milton Potter. Thank you, Africa. Senate Star Potter, Senate President. Yes, sir. I haven't even said no way to start. You know, sometimes I don't feel like, you know, this is the last lap. You know when it's the last lap, everything's supposed to get hiding, you know? But like always, I feel like there's some stuff that we missed in his speech. Education. 3:34:53 Let's start with education. How do you feel about your thoughts about education? Governor, public service is really a noble calling of the highest order, and he has served in the capacity of the chief executive of the U.S. Virgin Islands for the last seven years, so you must give him credit for that. his speech was fairly long. He warned us in advance that it was going to be a long speech. A couple things that I would have liked to have heard, specifically in the area of education. He spoke about the Arthur Richards School being built. I think one of the first schools to be built since the destruction of the hurricanes in 2017. But I would have liked to have heard a little more about the interim steps. What do we do in the interim while these schools are being built and we have schools in both districts i know bcb for example lockout school some of the aging schools that he mentioned what is the interim plan for our young people right you know i think the conditions of a school impacts a child's ability to learn great so kudos to the fact that we are going to have world-class schools down the line but i would have like to have heard the most strategic plan as to what are we going to be doing between now and the time that we have uh new schools deliver right so i know your background is resources so a lot of the conversations on the ground is you know we don't really feel we hear about billions and billions of dollars but we don't really feel it so what that conversation is like as far as infrastructure is concerned well i know as far as infrastructure is concerned the governor 3:35:42 made uh highlighted the fact that he has obligated his team and odr chief has obligated some 25 billion dollars already so that is basically saying it is in the bag as far as future uh you know use of those funds to rebuild our territory i would have like i would like to know specifically where we are with specific projects, the entities that have gotten the contracts, what are the specific time frames for doing the deliverables, so that people in the Virgin Islands who've been waiting since 2017 can actually begin to see and understand in a tangible manner where we are and the steps and the milestones that are, you know, going to be achieved as we move towards actually rebuilding our disseminated infrastructure here throughout the territory of schools, our hospitals, our roads, our people. 3:37:31 These are normal conversations, right? So what do you feel, my last question to you, what do you feel is leaving for the next generation of governors or where we at right now? Well, I think the next chief executive will definitely inherit the full rebuilding of this territory. You know, that is the new administration, whoever that is, will actually play a huge role in the actual execution of some of the contracts that we've already and we've just entered into. So that will fall, you know, squarely on the shoulders of the new administration. Issues like finding the talent, the skilled labor to execute these jobs. You know, issues like finding housing to, you know, when you have these hundreds, if not thousands of persons here in the territory doing the rebuilding, where are we going to put that? So those are some of the specific issues that perhaps the new administration will be faced with. Thank you, Senator, for sitting with me. Thank you, always. Senator President. I appreciate it. 3:38:37 Africa, great to hear more to you. Thank you, and joining me is Senator Kenneth L. Gittins, our Vice President. How are you tonight? I am blessed, and yourself. So let's get into the nitty-gritty. The governor stated that the theme is anchored in progress. Why or why not? What are your thoughts on that? Well, you know, when I heard that, the first thing that came to mind was my motto that with progress comes change. And you know that we as a people don't embrace change too 3:39:48 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 19 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address well. And while the governor said we're anchored in progress, the progress is a bit slow, in my estimation. What do you think he can do to speed things up? Because he spoke quite confidently tonight. You know, and that he did. That he did. So I made some notes and I compared what he spoke about back in 2019 in his first State of the Territory address when it came to health care. And one of the things that he promised was that he pledged to prioritize the rebuild of the Territory's hospital. Both Roy Lester Snyder Hospital and the Governor Wang F. Louis Hospital on St. Croix. Seven years later, we haven't seen anything, any groundbreaking, to the extent where we could see that in the next couple of years we will see a new hospital. 3:40:40 If you can rate the progress, anchored in progress from 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how would you rate it? in in in giving my honesty i i will have to say a four to five you know uh also i was looking at the what he talked about with education you know i i thought i would really hear more on some of these um topics and with education again back in 2019 and uh he spoke about the career and technical education and, you know, moving it forward and moving education forward. The legislature have passed legislation to enact Act 8506, which is to have the EMS course in high schools. To date, over a year, we have not seen the implementation of this, you know. So it's a bit disappointing to that end. And very quickly, was there anything in the governor's speech that you would have liked him to address tonight? 3:41:25 Well, I would have liked him to address a bit more on public safety as well as it pertains to the camera systems that they stated were going to be in place. He did speak about public safety, but not in depth to where we can actually see the touch on the e-citations. But crime is a problem. Thank you, Senator. Back to you, Alwyn. Good evening. Thank you, Africa. Harry is sitting with the Majority Leader, Senator Kurt VLA. How are you doing tonight? I'm good. 3:42:31 I'm good. Excuse me. Put her closer towards the table. Put her closer towards the table. Once again, good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Alvin, I saw you doing your work from early. Yes, yes, yes. We're going through it. So first off, veteran senator, so you've been through a lot, a lot of states in the What's that? Give the governor a grade on this one. What do you think? How do you feel this one went? I won't give him a grade. I'll give you a synopsis. I've listened to all of the states and the territory addressed for the last couple of years. 3:43:03 This one was taking excerpts of all the previous states and the territory and repeating it to life. So you heard a lot about, we have $24 billion, we're going to get this started, we waited on a contract. a lot of if and you didn't hear a lot of the real concrete information in terms of what does what is going to take place in the next 11 months you know what is the what are the initiatives of the government of the virgin what is the last of it going to look like yeah you didn't hear a specific clear message right you know but you heard a lot of coverage of the past coronavirus increasing tourism from three four years ago and i was really looking for more specifics in terms of the path moving forward you know what is going to happen in reference of mental health how we're going to deal with a challenge how we're going to deal with the homeless population yeah how are we going to deal with uh the number of unfinished projects to include hospitals yeah you heard again we're nearing a contract you heard the same thing last year in reference to hospital when is the rebuild actually going to take place what is the status of the long-awaited parley joseph stadium when is that going to be completed instead of supposed to be completed by christmas it hasn't and there was no touch um whatsoever central high school complex where it was shelter charlotte amali at the dana christian center when are shovels actually going to be in the ground because when you listen to the speech you know you you feel good about what is being said but the reality when you come outside and you feel it wrong and the people they're not seeing literally what was said in the speech the reality is that we still have a lot of issues with rules you still have a lot of issues with the sewer system uh with schools with the healthcare system so the reality people aren't seeing and i also want to close by saying a lot of the accomplishments i want to say congratulations to the senate the hotel developer act that was my 3:43:35 bill, you know, didn't get the acknowledgement, the minimum salary increase for government employees, which was passed and then vetoed and then had to come back three years after. You know, so a lot of the initiatives that were spoken about were actually the result of the Senate working hard together. The Stabilization Fund for GRS went through four literally drafts of that particular bill and we made sure that the monies were earmarked for the retirement system, you know, and all it was rolled into well i accomplish this accomplishes but it was definitely a unified approach a reference to the legislature working with government house to make sure that we make things better but i just wanted more specifics yes like i said we we we love it exactly what the case i love you have to take on it and are we looking forward for the next 11 months hopefully like i said his last lap this is his last lap with the case me and wait is he leaves for the next um the next incoming um organization and we're gonna look forward to the next 11 months we have work well to get on a number initiative french marieve the solar project and we're looking for whatever government house is going to send on and definitely we look at it see if it's in the best interest of the people and if we need to refine it we do what we have to do but i'm looking forward to the next 11 months and hopefully we'll be able to progress and do well thank you thank you so 3:45:38 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 20 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address much have a good evening okay back to africa thank you abriel how are you tonight i'm great i'm great i'm i'm doing wonderful how are you doing tonight i'm doing pretty good can you share your thoughts on the governor's speech well you know tonight the governor gave his last and final speech and you know while it's just a speech he couldn't encompass everything but it was great to hear some some points uh he um the governor told his story like he's been touting in the news he told his story and he did it well um to his best of his knowledge i would assume but um you know some of the things that he said tonight really um resonated because i was his administrator at a point in time i remember all the roads and when we got him by the street lights and so forth so you know it's a great speech to go back to fact find some of the things he said but for the most part i do remember a lot of the things he said in in he stated in his speech and i was grateful for that yes in terms of workforce development were you satisfied with the areas that he touched on as it pertains to to workforce development in the United States, Virgin Islands? Well, tonight he went, he didn't go too heavy in workforce development, but one thing I know with all these new infrastructure that we're putting in, we need to really beef up our education system and provide avenues for our students and our children to move these Virgin Islands forward, because we're building on more modernized facilities, we're doing a lot of great things, so, and a lot of other things we're gonna have to do, we're gonna really require some public-private partnerships to really propel these islands forward. But for the most part, we really need to focus our attention on our education system and our Department of Labor to put things in place for what you're in for the future. 3:47:36 In terms of ECTHIS, the governor acknowledged cabinet convictions. Do you believe current ethics reforms are going too far? No, we could never have enough ethics reforms. I think certain things, what I think we need, really need more, is more governance and more enforcement. We need managers to really start managing and operating. We need more checks and balances. He talked about his procurement system being one of the best in the nation, you know, but things are still happening. I'm really glad that he acknowledged that there were some flaws. You know, he stands committed to root out corruption in his administration. It's a tragedy what happened earlier, but, you know, I'm glad for the commitment. But as a legislative body, we need to stand firm and put some legislation in place to really work together to really get our ethics commission going so we could take a better stance on this corruption. And very quickly, can you tell us, is there anything that you would have liked him to talk about more of tonight? 3:48:35 Well, for me, with all the facilities going up and being constructed, I would have liked to hear him talk more about our elder population. You know, I was looking forward to help with a good rehabilitation center, homes with assistive living and so forth. But, you know, I guess it could encompass all. So that's where my job coming to drill down and being the chairman of Government Operation Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection to look out for our people. Thank you. 3:49:33 Thank you. Alvin Baptiste. I'm here with the finance chair, Senator Noel Francis. How are you doing? Good evening, Alvin. I'm doing great. How are you? I'm good. I'm good I'm good so first off what do you think about the governor long speech it was very long tonight hopefully he got everything like you were looking for what do you think about that well obviously he had a lot to say I mean it's been eight years right so he wanted to put a lot into that speech I think that he gave a great submission of his eight years of service to the people of the Virgin Islands you know certainly he talked about you know some of his success stories and some of the achievement that have been made I could certainly join in those achievement because, you know, I've had the responsibility in helping to move, you know, some of the legislation that supported, you know, some of those initiatives that he spoke about this evening. But he also was honest about some of the challenges that he was experiencing there and really just forecast how important it is for us to be able to address those challenges moving forward. You know, so I believe that he had a lot to say. Hopefully he got everything out you know for me I think that there was still some some issues in terms of mental health and behavioral health that continue to plague us that is something that I've really been advocating for us to be able to address I wish that we had heard a little bit more about that you know our health care system continue to be challenged he touched on and some of the challenges experienced by our health care system and you know I believe that collectively we really have to work towards you know bringing some some semblance of the water to a health care and really create quality health care. 3:49:58 And as a finance chair, you know, we have, when you're here, we have $20 billion. You know, when people on the street hear that, you know, that sounds like cash money, but realistically it's not really cash that you could just go on and dip in. So how about the infrastructure, how it is we're moving with that? Well, yeah, certainly, yeah, we hear about things like about $20 billion that he has remaining, and certainly that is not cash money, but certainly a lot of that money requires us to be able to expend the money and then be reimbursed. This body has continued to support by providing a line of credit that will be able to allow for some of these capital projects to be able to move forward. We increased that at one point up to from $100 million to at least $200 million. Understanding that a lot of these bundles that you spoke about, the $1 million budget bundles, will require some additional funding. But it's critical that we're able to ensure that the vendors are paid in a timely fashion. And we provided a line of credit to be able to support that. When we received the money 3:51:34 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 21 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address reimbursed from the federal government, we were able to pay that down. He spoke about a $70 million reserve fund that once the administration leaves, that they'll have $70 million in coffers. I'm not sure where that is at, but certainly that is something that I'll be interested to follow in my responsibility as the chair of budget appropriations and finance. Because we want to make sure, yes, that there is a reserve, but certainly that we're able to identify what our reserve where it is and certainly to make sure that we're earmarking that for some specific purpose moving forward. Before I let you go, as I said, we touched on it, the South Shore Trade Zone. What's your final thoughts on the South Shore Trade Zone? Did he mention it? Well, he talked about the Ghana delegation that's here, the Taiwanese that's here as well. A lot of it is really about technology, the call centers, the South Shore Enterprise Zone, will allow for some of that to occur. I believe that is a strong economic driver as we move forward, as we develop. That's legislation that I moved and sponsored and was supported by my colleagues because we truly believe that that's the way to go. It'll allow for revenues to come into our coffers, but more importantly, they'll be able to allow for employment to occur. So it's really pivotal. I think that we're starting to see some inroads in terms of the social trade zone. And I'm sure that we'll hear a lot more about that in the near future, especially in light of having the Ghana delegation here, as well as the Taiwanese delegation here. Thank you, Senator, for sitting with me. I appreciate your time. Thank you. I appreciate you as well. 3:53:06 Back to you, Africa. Thank you. Joining me is Senator Collar J. Joseph. How are you tonight? I am wonderful. How are you doing, Ms. Harrigan? I'm doing well. What do you think about the governor's speech? I thought he was very energized. He was upbeat. He really laid out the accomplishments of the Brian Roach administration. One of the things that I really have to salute him on is managing the pandemic very well, and also salute him and his team on, you know, making sure that we put out that lifeline for GRS, as well as, you know, giving the legislature its dual accolades and knowing that we work in partnership just to move our islands forward. And we do love our islands, and it is demonstrated in our dedication and our work as public servants. Where do you believe the legislature and the executive branch worked well together and where they did not? 3:54:12 I think we worked well together with GRS. I think we worked well together with COVID, with the merger of VI, Fire and Emergency Services. Even with the Clinton eFips racetrack, we work well with each other. I think where we have a little bit of a challenge, for me, is where we're looking at the cash flow issues and being able to see that level of transparency so that the legislature can actually see the money and where it's being spent and how it's being spent. We still have challenges with our vendors being paid. I come from a background in working for the Virgin Islands Housing Authority and we were committed to paying our vendors within 30 days after an approved invoice and that's not the case. I think one of the things that he pointed out, and I really think is a great idea, is for us to really put out that referendum to talk to our people and see what their position is with the 1% increase that's going towards health. Health is critical. I mean, we have health. WAPA is a critical area as well. And so we want to be able to grow the economy. And in order to do that, Ms. Harrigan, we need to have reliable and affordable energy. So that's one of the things that we want to really focus on. And hopefully... So let me interject. So ultimately, how do you think history will judge this administration from a legislative standpoint? 3:55:17 I think they made some critical inroads, but we still have work to be done, in roads, in securing billions of dollars in disaster recovery. This is unprecedented. Our funding, unprecedented. And so, but we still have a lot of work to do. It's going to take all of us to get this work done. I'm committed. I'm energized, revved up, and ready to do this work and continue to do this work because I really enjoy serving our people. Thank you. Back to you, Alvin. 3:56:59 Thank you, Afrika. I'm here sitting with the one and only Senator Franklin Johnson. How are you doing tonight, sir? Good evening. How are you doing? Good evening to the people of this territory. I am well. I am well. So, first of all, what do you think about this long speech? I think seven years? What are your thoughts? Before I get into the speech, I definitely want to acknowledge the union. Folks have been out there today that were petitioning. And I'm a little disappointed that they secure the area and make sure that they even come closer. And in the governor's speech, you talk about freedom of speech allowing people to express themselves so i'm a little disappointed in that some of the contractors are hospitals say that they are five years without contract some doctors eight years without contract and he spoke about these type of things the governor was very upbeat and they accomplished some stuff i must acknowledge that they did accomplish some stuff but there's a lot still left behind yes probably joseph yeah don't let's go down the road please yeah we gotta talk about well in in his last state of the territory he said that polly joseph would have been finished december i remember going down there with the governor and other colleagues and they said it's going to finish december the last time i spoke to him when we had a meeting with him it's now gone to june i personally believe this contractor is not going to fulfill his obligations and complete this park you're certainly looking so i continue saying we we need to go after the bands, the folks who sign off on it, make sure we complete it. 3:57:32 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 22 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address He spoke about horse racing. And in the agreement and the little bit that he shared with us, it's not going to work that way. You know, Southland Game wants to build a track on St. Croix. In his conversation, five years to run the track. They want to put the Racino away from track. Anybody that knows anything about horse racing, Racino has to be on the horse track itself. So if it's going to work, It has to be where that Racino is on the house track itself on the racetrack because that's the only way you're going to generate money. Racino pays more taxes than if he have that business off the track. So we definitely need to make sure that happens. In this speech, again, he spoke about what Frederick said and three roads that have not been touched from two terms of testimony. Strand Street, King Street, and Queen Street. 3:58:57 They said we don't fix them. They haven't been fixed. Last time I spoke to the commissioner and the governor, They say right after festival, these roads are going to be fixed. Festival done. Festival done. I ain't seen no work yet. You know, so I also want to say thanks to the government. He signed off on the minimum wage bill. Which, yes, was a very important bill. You know, so I want to give him thanks for that. I think the next thing we need to do is talk about, you know, cost of living. So we could have this bigger conversation. Most definitely, because as you look around, the cost of living, the price of food, everything continues to move. And that's why, for me, it was important to move that minimum wage bill so that the people in the private sector could get some kind of relief. 3:59:44 So that was important for me, and I really applaud that he signed off on it. I was kind of worried, not knowing if he was going to do it. You know you've got to come back to us anyway for the rest of the week. Most definitely, Simon. I hope that my colleagues were willing to support it if we needed to. But the governor gave me his word on that, and this is one time he fulfilled his words. All right, so I agree. Plus one, plus one. Plus one, you know. There's a lot of other things that he did not discuss. For instance, the Wang Lui Hospital. In the 2024 and 2023, he said that the hospital in Wang Lui would have been demolished by December 2025. The modular are only temporary, and we outlived them. Seven years, the hospital is still standing there. 4:00:26 They need to make a move. Again, he promised that it's going to happen. we cannot continue staying in these modular they are not been put there for this length of time so i sure hope we do that spoke about schools only one school is being built right now right and in his last state of the territory he said we should have been starting 10 of them by now so these are the things i look at i looked at things that he promised and looked at some of these stuff that was not delivered okay for me it's a little disappointed they got some work done And I will continue saying that. They did get some work. 4:01:13 I see Melvin Evans have finally been lighted up after the storm. That's a plus. I saw that road by the Cantina Port. That is completed. That's a plus. So it's not all that bad. But any administration, you're going to always have a lot of work that they promise that ain't being fulfilled. So I'm definitely looking forward in some measures that I have had in conversation with the governor, which is a speedy trial bill. because too long people are being held in prison and can't get a case. So these are some of the measures that I'm trying to bring forth. Had some conversation with the Attorney General, planning some meetings with the court, and then with a different agency to make sure that we put a well-put-together package so that people could have a fair time for their trial and be heard. We're looking forward to it. This is the last lap. Thank you, Senator. Thank you very much. 4:01:45 Thank you very much. You look good in green, man. Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Africa, back to you. Yes, he does look good in green. Joining me is Senator Angel Bocas, Senator-at-large, of course. So the question is, from your perspective as a legislator, does the speech accurately reflect the lived experience of Virgin Islanders? Good evening and welcome to everyone who's tuning in. I would say that the governor's state of the territory address this evening was very broad. It did not specifically hit on every single issue or concern that Virgin Islanders have. For instance, there was no mention of food security and agriculture, which I believe is one of the initiatives that the legislature of the Virgin Islands has took upon itself with the agricultural plan being approved. And we really have a lot of work to do in that area if you're going to really get serious about food security here in the Virgin Islands. Would you equate food security along with financial stability in terms of the youth that are here in the Virgin Islands? 4:02:33 So, yeah, I think food security does come with a lot of economic value and security for the livelihoods of all Virgin Islanders. Specifically for the youth especially, there are so many different industries that exist in agriculture that the youth could actually tap into and of course we've seen the exponential growth through the cannabis industry that is now forming more so lastly in the news we saw that the ocr has made some advancements in that area as well so economically that will bring a lot of viability to the virgin islands as well and rating the governor's speech would you rate it one being the least and ten being the highest how would you rate his speech and why i would give it uh eight and a half, maybe nine. 4:03:46 Again, I think it's very upbeat, very positive. He rolled out the red carpet and told you about all the accomplishments his administration has made since the inception until now. However, there are some other things that need to be done. He did also allude to them in his speech, stating that there is a lot of work to still be done. In addition to the fact that the next 4:04:32 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 23 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address administration, whoever comes in, has to fulfill that mandate as well. So, again, he did not touch on agriculture in his speech. He mentioned a number of things concerning his accolades. But one of the things that I just want to squeeze in there really quickly is he did mention the purchase of the Department of Labor building, but he did not mention the champion of that bill, which happens to be myself. So I took a little exception to that. I'll deal with him at another time. Thank you, Senator. Back to you, Alvin. thank you africa i'm sitting here with senator marvin bladen how are you doing sir good evening i was good to see you i'm good i'm good at yourself i'm good i'm good i'm very well um how you feel about this seventh state of the territory honestly it was very upbeat optimistic i've heard hall before but honestly i don't feel it matches reality and that's what bothers me a lot and i heard a lot throughout community um there's a lot of accomplishment don't get me wrong but there's a disconnect somewhere okay that much reality i agree so let's talk about housing i know you're a champion of our housing so let's go straight into reading that's that's where it is your forte is well when it comes to housing um as you know i'm a big advocate and i also took accession to some of the things i heard this evening also of course i'm happy to hear that that we have done 90 homes with the Envision program. I'm glad to see that my people are being housed, but at the same time, we have 1,600 applicants, and it's been eight-plus years. So that's my take on that. I appreciate the work they're doing. 4:05:26 They're moving real quickly right now, and I want to thank Adrienne Williams-Octolin for what she's doing in that respect, but it has been some time, and I want to see more progress moving forward. You know, there are many individuals in terms of elders who have died, still waiting for their homes to be repaired. So I will be working along with them to see how we can really streamline processes in our respect. And we've got some government workers that are trying to get into it too, to be honest with you, but the processes feel a little tedious, you know? And you're talking about a SLICE program. That's another story. But at the same time, I must say, and I will mention that today, I met with the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. and we will be meeting tomorrow and Wednesday in St. Thomas, I wasn't saying quite today, we'll be in St. Thomas tomorrow and St. John on Wednesday and I must say that they are a fresh breath of air in terms of assisting us with homeownership opportunity for people. They are here doing some important work and they're going to be doing workshop and training moving forward. I look forward to having those discussions and seeing how we can help our people but at the same time homeownership as you know is the most important investment anyone can make and i want to do everything in my power to see how i can assist my people moving and a lot of us are waiting on that to be an issue we've been waiting you know that's that's that's just on the ground you know we want to get a part of the land we want to be a part of that conversation nobody wants to be renting for the rest of their life you know never that and as a matter of fact i will be having further discussions probably by the end of next month in respect to also some great news that's going to be coming i don't want to spill the beans right now but there's some great news coming in terms of um building homes here and having a plant on the island of st croix and at the same time i'm looking forward also to the second summit um and we have some great things coming in the territory anything you're looking forward from the senator 4:06:38 from the governor for the rest of his um his term yes i'm looking forward to seeing results i'm looking forward to seeing projects roll out and moving forward without us losing any funds because yes he have a lot going on on his plate yes we have hit record in terms of amount of funding we have but i just want to see completion i want to see some ribbon curtains you see what i'm saying i want to see the schools being built i want to see the hospitals being completed because right now we're in a crisis and i want to see more collaboration and cooperation between the the executive and the legislative branch in terms of using our ideas, working together to get the same goal because we all want the same thing. It's how do we get there? 4:08:27 And many of us have great ideas, but we really don't get a chance to really assist in putting those ideas into action and getting the results that we all want. And most importantly, people need to feel it. Definitely. That is the most important thing. So I look forward to, again, working more closely with administration last year and hopefully they'll listen to some of the things we are saying and we can work together in our respect thank you senator thank you so much for the time i appreciate it back to you africa thank you joining me is senator ray fonseca how are you tonight yeah yes i'm i'm fine how are you doing i'm doing wonderful so my first question is do you support the push for a single territorial hospital system uh yes i i definitely do you know i i listened attentively to the governor's state of the territory address and i'm concerned in in a few areas um as you know the hospitals have been understaffed uh the hospitals have their own issues which brings about the reason why the merger is being asked for. 4:09:17 The hospitals have not been billing. In addition to that even though the 36 legislature has been able to push additional funding for the hospitals. And speaking of funding what role should the legislature play in ensuring hospital rebuilds stay on schedule and within budget well the the budget issue is a part of the insurance mix the one of the main problems with 4:10:32 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 24 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address the hospital is our payer mix when you look at the Cigna when you look at the Medicaid when you look at the Medicare and when you look at the self pay our hospitals are basically set up to fail so this push to realign the hospitals would be a good move in in the right direction so that we can get our health care improved as you know long emergency lines the borders our elderly care there's a lot of issues that remain in the hospitals particularly with the borders which are those elderly patients that require a certain level of care that their family can no longer provide. So yes, I do support that push to merge the hospitals and become more efficient. You had mentioned Medicaid, but how significant is the permanent Medicaid match reduction for long-term health care funding? Okay, right now it's 87 percent and we have to match the 13 percent. It's better than it was in the past, but compared to other states, it's a stretch, Particularly, Medicaid payments are not reimbursed timely. And, of course, you know, the hospitals being on a tight budget, they need to have the Medicaid payments. So we have a bill. In the next hearing, we're going to address revising the Medicaid state plan. That's a very important item for the Medicaid to assist the hospitals. And very quickly, can you tell us, was there anything in his speech that you did not hear him say tonight that you would have liked him to say? Yes. And speak about? And, you know, I have several concerns, particularly when it addresses WAPA. As you know, for years I've placed on the record of the inefficiencies of WAPA. The governor mentioned tonight over $100 million was given to WAPA in ARPA fund. In addition, last year there was over $32 million in budget stabilization fund. Just a few weeks ago, we're giving them an additional $4 million. That's going to tap into the insurance guarantee fund, and WAPA still provides unreliable power. The metering is a problem. I have a proposal to petition the United States Congress to engage in Chapter 9 restructuring of WAPA Because the governor even admitted tonight that the debt that WAPA has, which is a little bit over $350 million, that's not going to go away. And I'm not surprised that WAPA is still on the agenda and WAPA is not going away. We need to get WAPA fixed. And that's going to be one of the legacies that the governor has not been able to accomplish. 4:12:37 Thank you very much. Back to you, Alvin. Thank you. Thank you, Africa. I'm sitting here with Alma Francis Heiliger. Senator, how are you doing this evening? I am wonderful in yourself. I am good, I am good. So you should be considered a veteran senator. One, and then you've been with a senator for a while. Yes. So you've been through the city and the territory. Yes, this is my sixth one. So what do you think about this one compared to the... To the others? Yes. It was the same pomp and circumstance for me. Okay. To be real, I did appreciate him. 4:13:57 Oh, I think my mic is on. Got it. It's on now? Excellent. Like I said, I think it was the same pomp and circumstance. For me, I did appreciate him once again sharing about where we stood as it relates to tourism. You know, it's always great when we are doing excellent in tourism because that's tourism dollars coming in. I appreciated him sharing his disappointment as it relates to what he did say about his three cabinet members and being convicted and his efforts to stomp out corruption. My personal disappointment with that has to do with why is it always the federal government that has to step in versus our local government being the lead. it's almost like we turn a blind eye to a lot of things that's happening here in the territory the federal government steps in cleans it up and then we're taking praise for it like i i think it's a little bit interesting from that regard what about let's talk about wapa because everything has to lead back to wapa every single thing everything has to lead back to wapa that's That's unfortunate, but that's where we're at. 4:14:32 I will say to you, I perked up a little bit when he was speaking about WAPA. And why I perked up, because I was convinced that when this book was printed with his speech, he didn't go back and re-advise his speechwriters to fix it. Because the trauma that we were dealing with here in the territory, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, with these constant power outages in and out, in and out. You know, as a business, the last time we had something like this, I lost $18,000 worth of equipment in my business. I was never reimbursed for it. 4:15:47 So I don't think he fully grasped the plight that is happening with residents when it comes to appliances and stuff, when it comes to equipment and businesses. So, you know, I was a little taken back by that. And when he started to speak to Mr. Knight directly and tell him to reduce the rates, you know, I kind of chuckled. Because how many administrations are we hearing the same identical message from? I mean, let's use the propane situation. Our rate was supposed to get cut in half. I remember all of these little speeches. But our people are so used to being beaten down that when you offer them something, it's almost like the government is acting like they're supposed to be appreciative for just getting things that they rightfully deserve. So I don't really, you know, co-sign on, you know, the jumping up and the praises because do your job. We all need to do our job when it comes to serving this public. And if we see WAPA is a major issue, it needs to be 100% tackled. 4:16:22 People should not be constantly being disrupted Have their businesses and their lives disrupted like this And then the best you could get is a little speech about lower the rates I'll wait to see But, you know, I'm sure the entire territory will Yeah, like I said, that's the issue On the ground, we don't feel some of these things But they still wipe out controls, everything So when you go to the store to buy something with a case They price could be based off of the light bill as well too, eh? 4:17:25 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 25 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Exactly Senator, thank you for sitting with me have a wonderful wonderful and i definitely appreciate it and thank you for the audience for tuning in and listen and hopefully in the next couple of months we see something positive but if not head out and vote come november thank you thank you senator thank you so much africa back to you thank you very much joining me is senator hubert l frederick how are you tonight i'm fine how you doing and what did you think about the governor's speech so i thought it was a optimistic you know let's go home speech. He talked about the challenges that he and his administration encountered while they were here over the last seven years. COVID was a big one and I have to admit doing COVID they did a fabulous job. I was traveling a lot and we were one of the only ports that were open and the process was well put together and we made a lot of money as a a result. So there's some things that this administration did very well. Now, I know that you said you wanted to talk about money. So the governor highlighted GDP growth, low unemployment and reduced debt. Do you believe these gains are being felt equitably across the territory? No. Why not? It's never equitable because the people who are seeking jobs, they're going to say that the jobs aren't paying enough and there's not enough jobs. For the businesses that are out they're looking for skilled workers to do work. They're going to say there's insufficient skilled workers or the workers that they do have is insufficient. And so it's always going to be that disparity between that. Do we need more job training? Absolutely. Do we need a more skilled job force? Without question. Do workers need to get paid? Yes. Do workers need to produce more? Of course, yes. You know, it's yes, yes, yes. So that's something that it's always, you're going to see that between both sides all the time. So how confident are you that the current financial stability can be sustained after this administration? 4:19:07 Well, currently we're in a little problem financially. We're in a deficit. Our cash flow situation is not good. We're hoping that some of these construction projects start yesterday so we could start getting some cash flow from them. Gross receipts continue to be a challenge for businesses. We lost almost 500 businesses, small businesses last year, and it's being felt throughout our government because we're not paying our bills now because the money isn't coming in like it normally does. And speaking of that, what concerns, if any, do you still have about the government spending and the reserves? 4:20:02 We could always do a better job when it comes to spending. Our reserve got a hit because we spent $2.9 million recently on the SNAP situation where the federal government closed down and we needed to take care of those people who received SNAP benefits. So we paid out almost $3 million. So we went from $13 million to now $9 million and $9-plus billion, so we need to get that number back up again, because anything could happen at any time·WAPA is a good example. You never know when they're going to come back and ask for more money. Look at the hospitals. They're asking for more money. We just gave them $10 million six months ago, and they're asking for more money right now. So, yeah, a government this size, there's no way $10 million is a sufficient reserve. 4:20:42 Thank you, Senator. Back to you, Alwyn Baptiste. Thank you, Africa. I'm here with Senator Clifford Joseph, Senior. How are you doing today, Senator? Doing pretty well. So you're a first-born senator, so this will be your first city and territory. But I think you've been here under a different hat. So as a senator, you're in a different position now. What do you think? Yes. Yes, I am. How do you feel about his speech this time? his speech was i mean he's closing out his last year not even the last term but the last year in his um administration um he was straightforward and areas where the administration had some good traction which is expected right yeah which is expected he'd be wrong not to right exactly um but i in some other instances i think we just miss like i think we miss clearly on And we missed clearly on some agriculture issues, I feel, at this point, after coming from hurricanes to pandemic to even at a day with the shortage of the food stamp issue, that we need to prepare ourselves to be able to feed ourselves for at least two weeks without any help. 4:21:33 That's what we need to grow to, and that's a start. I mean, again, since you were leaving stuff for the next administration, I think whoever will be the next should be listening to this clearly because it's very important we can't survive without food. So I feel that it's important for us to prepare ourselves or start to prepare within the agriculture department and even if it's a backyard planting, to make sure that we can produce enough for us to be self-sufficient at least for two weeks. Right. Then the next thing would be health care. Because, like I said, we need to feel comfortable. 4:22:48 i could go to the hospital or something wrong with me and i don't have to be thinking about flying out and all the different stuff so i mean i i am i was happy to hear about the cancer treatment here on st thomas but on one we i heard no timeline as far as actually if we're gonna start to break down we're gonna break down i mean if you visit the modular today and you're walking in there if you're going to the noisy room side you got soft spot right i mean i guess in in in clearance as far as them putting it there so being a seven-year factor right here it is we're going in and that that marginal actually standing prior to going in effect so we already passed the seven-year mark on it right right and then the last thing of definitely homeland security so crime how did he touch on that how do you feel about that the only thing he mentioned on some of the initiative between the traffic as far as them they're going to be able to do the e-tickets and nothing on the crime situation as far as what we want to hear about arrests on murders in this administration is twice we had mass 4:23:22 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 26 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address murders we had one in princess a few years ago with three guys getting killed and we had one again the other night with three more right so i mean we heard nothing i mean i've heard going back to some of the governors in the past when we have those kind of situation everything shut down no can or no lighter in and somebody's being picked up i ain't seen that kind of action right okay senator thank you for your time i appreciate you and we're looking forward we think what do you think back with me actually what you think about the next the vast remaining months of his um thing what are you looking forward for anything you could look forward well one thing he mentioned on that i know i'm working on already i'm the author for the um incinerator because fema itself told us that they're not we're not going to be able to burn open so now i do have an incident i went i went on a trip that he they invited me from waste management i was only senator there and i came back and i i am drafting a piece of legislation to have the incinerary device in place to burn the green waste okay we look forward Thank you. Back to you, Africa. Thank you, Elwin. So joining me is our Delegates of Congress, Stacey E. Plaskett. How are you? I'm well. How are you doing this evening? I'm doing well. So let's get into the federal funding. Sure. With $25 billion in federal recovery funds obligated, how much has been fully expended versus still under contract? 4:25:20 Right. Well, I think we heard the governor say that we have about $8 billion under contract. And we know that we have some really large projects that are coming online. One of the things that was not really talked about was that while we do have a cost share waiver that has brought the cost that the Virgin Islands has to pay down from 10% to 2%, in my discussions during the Biden administration and with the Office of Management and Budget, one of the things that they were concerned with was the pace that we were operating under and so within that cost share waiver they that waiver is only good for 10 years we're in near year nine and so we're going to have to really move aggressively and getting these under under being utilized so that that cost share waiver does not escalate back to the 10 percent and we have that amount to pay. And so in order to do that, there are things that we in the territory need to be engaged in. We need to be engaged in employment to make sure that we have the workforce that's going to be able to do that. And that workforce right now, while we have a low unemployment rate, we know that we have an even larger number of young people, particularly, who are not even looking for work. So they're not included in that unemployment rate. And speaking of that, how is the government ensuring transparency and preventing mismanagement as projects move into execution? Well, I think that, you know, you've heard the governor say that they have a very aggressive and rigorous procurement process. I believe that that's so, but I think that there need to be a continual oversight. That's the legislature's job, our local legislature, to ensure that there are continual checks in of that to make sure that we're utilizing that money properly, and also just generally engaging the community, letting people know, okay, this is when the project is going to begin. This is when we expect it to end. Having Charette's town halls with people on a regular basis, because we are basing a lot of who we are in the Virgin Islands on these projects moving forward. And very quickly, what happens to ongoing recovery projects if federal oversight requirements change? Well, you know, a lot of that is kind of baked in to 4:25:55 the contracts and things that are there now but I think that we need to be concerned that as we've seen in other areas in this administration meaning the Trump administration if money is not utilized it can be clawed back the president has done rescission packages where he's tried to take money away that's not being utilized and so I think we have to present a plan that shows that we're utilizing the money in a really effective manner thank you very much thank you back to you thank you Africa how are you doing sir I'm fine very much so um happy new year good evening to everyone I was good to see you I was good to see you so let's talk you're a veteran senator you've been through this state of the territory for a while what do you think down the governor did you know what I would first start off with uh let me give him kudos for all his accomplishments that he came here to to his own on and you know seven years has passed so you have a year to go but again um when we leave this fine institution here the legislature and you get on the roads and you walk you drive around you walk around you see that the place dark in the night you see the roads bad the reality sets into that i don't know how you're going to get from eight billion dollars to 25 billion dollars to build our schools to build our hospitals and to accomplish many of these things you talk about all of this building and there's no workforce so um again it's an amazing accomplishment that he have put out but reality i i don't believe we can have it happen yet what about our seniors let's talk about what you mean well again he He didn't mention anything about the seniors. And for me, I proposed $20 million of the Jeffrey Epstein money to put $10 million towards building a senior facility on St. Croix and $10 million towards building a facility on St. Thomas. That bill, you know, was held. It didn't move forward. But again, I still want to know how much money we have in Jeffrey Epstein monies. I want to know how much money we have left in the line of credit. 4:28:14 These are the things I want to hear, Because if we're talking the next administration taking over, we're not talking they're taking over in four years. We're talking they're taking over in a couple of months. So for our territory not to be far behind, you know, we need to jump on these issues. It's only that 1% that he mentioned in Toronto for 15 years for income tax or totally, vehemently disagree. No way. We ain't taxing the people of them no more. Nothing else. 4:30:24 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 27 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address Let's do what we need to do. spend the money that we need to generate additional revenue when we spend all these federal monies it will infuse the territory so good that it will generate its own funding source for us but the people need to feel it people exactly see it and see it yes you can't just be hearing that's like somebody telling you instead i get 20 million dollars but that's exactly i don't mean really nothing exactly we got to really feel it and you have to get down to this the the lowest level of the people the the smallest man right to the top man just not than people on the top need to feed everybody needs to feed senator graph thank you for sitting with us the pleasure is mine thank you very much thank you have a good evening all right back to you africa well this was quite an evening oh yes it was yes it was yes actually it was exciting actually um so much to look forward to um this lacks in a couple of months and then we still have another administration like we said earlier um this time next year we're gonna have a new administration and the truth we see what would happen what do you think jamal uh yeah like i said this is one exciting one we there are lots of issues in the territory and i think you know everyone has their different ways of feeling about it i don't think there's any probably no right or wrong way to think about this but we live in so we're going as we bring the senate reactions to a close based on the interviews that were conducted tonight senators want to see take action plans into results they want transparency they want the Virgin Islanders to truly live the Virgin Islands experience like I said I did 4:30:53 like the speech like I said it the tone was good but like I said we live in the reality so um we have 11 months to go um hopefully we get some stuff done we see some old houses we get a better grasp of our our healthcare system road and infrastructure infrastructure um the hospital like i said you want to be comfortable to get to the hospital and nobody gonna take care of me without any kind of discourse so that's important looking forward to looking forward to it what do you think them all um yeah i'm sharing a lot of the same sentiments that you have you You know, people want the right to feel comfortable. They want the right to say, hey, something goes wrong with me. God forbid I'll be able to go to the hospital. They want their nice houses. 4:32:39 They want, overall, they just want the opportunity to live. A good quality of life. They want a good quality of life. That's right. That is right. That is right. That is right. Thank you so much for tuning in to Legit TV and for, you know, sticking this out with us. You guys watched the State of the Territory Address, delivered by Governor Albert Bryan. Then you stayed with us as well for the Senate reactions. But Alan and Jamal and I. We appreciate it. We appreciate your time. Thank you for watching that. Thank you. And have a good night. Have a wonderful evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 4:33:28 You Thank you. Thank you. 4:36:42 ¶¶ ¶¶ Thank you. 4:38:12 We'll be right back. Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. Thank you. so This is a typical courtroom scene. You're pretty familiar with it, right? 4:39:40 Well, are you familiar with which of these people has a career so in demand that there will be thousands of job openings in it over the next few years? Nope, not the judge. Not the lawyer either. It's the court reporter. The what? A court reporter, also known as a stenographer, transcribes the spoken word at 225 words per minute using a stenotype machine. machine. 225 words per minute. Stenographers provide verbatim transcripts and real-time captioning from exciting venues like courtrooms, schools, sports stadiums, and even home. And some of them even get to do so internationally. Electronics can't ensure or testify to the accuracy of the words or punctuation they're capturing. Sorry, I didn't quite get that. making court reporters indispensable because it is a lucrative career with many paths that allow you to choose where and how often you'd like to work court reporting is the perfect career for our diverse community to get started with your court reporting career find a program near you at ncra.org slash schools I love you. 4:43:15 a stenographer. For more information about this amazing profession, call us today at the Virgin Islands Legislature Office of Legislative Reporters, 340-774-0880, or email us at reporters at legvi.org. Here we go. Oh, my God. 4:45:04 Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, my God. Thank you. 4:46:34 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 28 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address People named in this transcript SUSPECTED, and a finding aid only. Names were matched by machine against the spellings used across all 426 of our transcripts, and the title is the one used in the room. Being named here is NOT evidence that a person attended or spoke · only that the name was said. Speech recognition mishears names, so a spelling may be wrong even where no alternative is offered. 6x Senator Alma Francis-Heyliger heard in this transcript as: Alma Francis Heiliger, Alma-Francis Heiliger, Francis Heiliger 6x Senator Novelle Francis heard in this transcript as: Denise M. Francois, Francis Jr., Noel Francis, Novel Francis, Novell E. Francis Jr. 6x Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach heard in this transcript as: Roach, Tregenza A. Roach, Trigenza Roach 5x Senator Franklin D. Johnson heard in this transcript as: Franklin Johnson, Johnson 5x Senator Marvin Blyden heard in this transcript as: Blyden, Marvin A. Blyden 4x Senator Angel L. Bocas Jr heard in this transcript as: Angel Bocas, Angel L. Bocas Jr., Bocas Jr. 4x Senator Avery Lewis heard in this transcript as: Avery L. Lewis, Lewis 4x Senator Carla Joseph the surname alone also matches: Clifford Joseph; Karla J. Joseph heard in this transcript as: Carla J. Joseph, Joseph, Joseph Sr. 4x Senator Kenneth L. Gittens heard in this transcript as: Gittins, Kenneth L. Gittins 3x Governor Albert Bryan Jr heard in this transcript as: Albert Bryan, Bryan 3x Senator Clifford Joseph heard in this transcript as: Clifford A. Joseph Sr. 3x Senator Dwayne DeGraff heard in this transcript as: DeGraff, Dwayne M. DeGraff 3x Senator Hubert Frederick heard in this transcript as: Frederick, Hubert L. Frederick 3x Senator Marise C. James the surname alone also matches: Javan James; Giovanni James Sr heard in this transcript as: James, Maurice C. James 3x Senator Milton E. Potter heard in this transcript as: Potter 3x Senator Ray Fonseca heard in this transcript as: Fonseca 3x Justice Reese Hodge heard in this transcript as: Reese S. Hodge 2x Commissioner Avril George heard in this transcript as: George 2x Senator Collar J. Joseph the surname alone also matches: Carla Joseph; Clifford Joseph 2x Commissioner Derrick Gabriel 2x Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriel heard in this transcript as: Oriel 2x Governor Kenneth Mapp heard in this transcript as: Mapp 2x Senator Kurt VLA Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 29 of 30 Legislature USVI · Regular Session/State of the Territory Address 2x Commissioner Mario Brooks 2x Director Patrick Farrell 2x Judge Robert Molloy 2x Governor Wang F. Louis Hospital Bills and acts referred to Matched by number against our own acts corpus. The number is what the recognition heard, so it may be wrong; where it resolved, the title is the one the Legislature gave the act. Act 8506 Act 8506 · November 18, 2021 · An Act amending Virgin Islands Code, title 17, chapter 5 by adding section 41i to establish the Emergency Medical Services Program; amending title 33, chapter 111 by adding section 3099a to establish the Emergency Medical Services High School Program Fund; and making a $160,000 appropriation from the Centennial Special Fund to the Department of Education to fund the Emergency Medical Services basic EMS education program ---0 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 30 of 30