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VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Legislature USVI July 22, 2024 · 4.0 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/3G3X380Aj0w 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. yea senator adonna a fred gregory yes senator fred gregory yay senator kenneth ell gittens senator gittens yea senator marice c james senator james yea senator javon e james senior senator james senior yay senator franklin d johnson yes senator johnson yay senator kala j joseph senator joseph absent senator milton e potter yes senator potter yay mr president please record my vote as yes. Senator Novelli Francis Jr., yay. Mr. President, 14 yeas, one absent. 0:00:00 Very well, thank you. Motion carries. Roll call and the override. Senator Marvin A. Blyton. Senator Blyton, yay. Senator Angel L. Bocas Jr., Yes. Senator Bulquez, Jr., yay. Senator Diane T. Capehart? Yes. Senator Capehart, yay. Senator Samuel Carrion? Yes. Senator Carrion, yay. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff? Yes. Senator DeGraff, yay. Senator Ray Fonseca? Yes. Senator Fonseca, yay. Yes. Senator Novelli Francis, Jr.? 0:00:36 Yes. Senator Francis, Jr., yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger? Yes. Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? Yes. Senator Fred Gregory, yay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James? Yes. Senator James, yay. Senator Javon E. James Sr.? Yes. Senator James Sr., yay. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Yes. Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter, yay. 0:01:12 Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0236, the Governor's veto of July 9th, 2024, is hereby overridden. It's an act amending Title III version of the code by adding a chapter 33A to enact the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act to improve governmental agencies' digital service and for other related purposes have been approved by the members of the 35th legislature and will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action motion senator blyton thank you mr president i move to waive rules 403 404 405 and 509 b of the rules of the 35th legislature to special order br number 24-1146 to today's agenda and give it a bill number pursuant to rule number 509a and that it be considered to be placed as the in a second in a third black to the third black and the second item to the last on today's agenda I so move the bill amends act number eight six one seven and eight seven five nine reprogramming fund from the 0:01:47 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Elmo Plaskett Little League West on St. Croix and the Alden McBean Little League on St. Thomas to be to the Virgin Islands Little League district girls so about St. Croix and St. Thomas and st. John district I so move motion probably made by Senator Blyton seconded by Senator de Graff Senator James senior hearing no objections so ordered motion legal council bill number The BR number is 24-1146, what is the next bill number, which should be, should be 35-0314. Thank you, Mr. President. 0:03:51 Mr. President, the next bill number is 350314. Thank you. And this will be added as the second to last item on the block number three. Any other motions? Motion. Motion, Senator Franklin Johnson. Mr. President, I move to waive rule 403, 404 and 405. and 509B of the Rules of the Virgin Islands Legislature to Special Order Bill No. 350305, an act appropriating the sum of $1 million from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works for emergency grass cotton bush on the island of St. Croix and be placed in the last block, second to last on the agenda. I so move. 0:04:25 Second to last item. I so move. Motion properly made by Sen. Franklin Johnson, seconded by Sen. DeGraff, Sen. Carriong and Sen. Gittins. Hearing no objection, so ordered. Point of information, Sen. Gittins. Point of information, Sen. Gittins. Thank you, Mr. President and colleagues, I omitted two names from the bill sponsorship for 35.0310 and just wanted to point out that also Senators Samuel Carrion and Donna Fred Gregory signed on to bill number 35.0310, thus the money is appropriated from the Capital improvement fund to rectify the situation in the bugby hole area and st croix thank you thank you senator gittins um madam clerk just for clarity purposes uh the bills that i have so far uh to be added um is bill number 35-0310 bill number 35-0311 bill number 35-0312 Bill No. 35-0313 and Bill No. 35-0305, and 0314. 0:05:18 That's correct. Point of information, Senator Gregory. Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, would like to share that Bill Number 35.0311 is a measure that is moved to special order funding for the Ivana Eudora Ken track. It allows us to have track meet, international track meet, in the island of, in the island District of St. Thomas, St. John, next year Senator Potter and I worked very closely to make this happen and I'm not seeing the document that I supposed to have with the sponsors but the sponsors of this legislation is Senator Fred Gregory, Senator Potter, Senator DeGraff, and Senator Belayden and I'm certain that other senators and Senator Bulquez will sign on to this measure but this actually allows the Ivana Eudora can track to be completed and to become a world certified facility and it's important for this to happen because there is a two scheduled world-class track meets that will take place next year so this is like us preparing for the Olympics so I think it's very important for us to move this legislation forward and then bill number 35 that's zero three one two just last week we had the opportunity to meet with the secretary of energy miss Jennifer Granholm and in the presentation made by our Senate president he made a pitch for the 0:06:57 importance of or the the possibilities of the Virgin Islands receiving technical assistance. We all know that we are in an emergency state with our energy systems here in the Virgin Islands, with WAPA, that's the term. And there is some technical assistance that's being provided as we speak prior to the emergency. But what was very interesting to us is that we've invoked an incident command. 0:08:54 However, to date we have not actually asked for technical assistance from the federal government. So this measure, for this particular purpose, of course, so this measure allows for the federal government to demand or require, is the word, the Department of, to require the Resilience Water and Power Authority to request technical assistance to address the existing electrical grid infrastructure and any other matters around the energy systems that we have here, which is inclusive of smart grids, renewable energy, et cetera. There's a lot of conversation, a lot of work going on, But technical assistance is required to assist us because one of the things that was said by the federal government, the secretary in particular, was what we all know, that we have capacity challenges with professionals here on the ground to actually assist us with this. So I just want to commend my colleagues who signed off on this. I think we had a little preemption going on. So the first draw was myself, so I won the battle on this one. But we all win because Senator Potter, Senator Francis, Senator Maurice James, and then we have some fancy signatures, Senator Carrione, and then JEF DeGraff, Senator DeGraff signed off. 0:09:27 And I'm certain that other senators will sign off on this. I just wanted to make sure that I put that on the record that while we're experiencing this crisis, we are also paying attention, and it's important for us to move legislation to address the challenges. So we hope to see the technical assistance coming to the Virgin Islands. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Senator Fred Gregory. At this time, Madam Chair, Madam Clerk, please call up the items in block number two. 0:11:01 Block two, consideration of leases, Zonings, and resolutions. Excuse me. Block two, consideration of leases, zonings, and resolutions. 0:11:41 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) 2 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Bill number 35-0195, a resolution honoring and commending Mr. Willard John for his many contributions to the youth and the culture of the Virgin Islands. Bill number 35-0239, an act honoring and commending Mrs. Clare Lorraine Brown Roker for her dedicated service to the Virgin Islands community by naming the visitor's center at the Anne E. Abramson Marine Facility, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, the Claire L. Roker Visitor Center. Bill number 35.0242, a resolution honoring and commending Miguel Santos Jr., aka DJ Poppy Pops, for his contribution in the field of music and in radio broadcasting of musical events and local social musical events, and specifically contributing to the art of DJing and the teaching of DJing. Bill number 35-0259, an act amending the official zoning map number STZ-4 for the island of St. Thomas to change the zoning designation of plots number 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, and 109, Estate Niskey, Sub-Ace, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, from C. Commercial to P. Public Zoning. 0:12:13 Bill number 35.0281, an act amending the official zoning map number SJZ-1 for the island of St. John to change the zoning designation of parcel numbers 17F-2 and 17F-Reminder, Estate Adrian, Number 18, Cruz Bay Quarter, St. John, Virgin Islands, from R-1, Residential Low Density, to R-4, Residential Medium Density. Bill number 35.0284, an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the Virgin Islands, acting through its commissioner of the Department of Property and Procurement, and Roll Enterprises, Inc., doing business as best car rental parcel number 294 estate contact and enid cruise bay quarter saint john virgin islands for the continued operation of a car and jeep rental business and for other related purposes bill number 35-0294 an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands and banco popular de puerto rico for a portion of lot number 48 b noragata king's quarter st thomas virgin islands bill number 35-0308 an act amending official zoning map number sjz-7 saint john virgin island to rezone parcel number 294 estate content and eden cruise bay quarter saint john from r-4 residential medium density to b2 business secondary neighborhood this concludes the reading of block number two mr president thank you thank you madam clerk uh before we proceed uh to our debate 0:13:37 time we'll take a two minutes recess session stands and recess for two minutes Thank you. ¶¶ ¶¶ Thank you. ¶¶ so Thank you. so Thank you. 0:15:23 so ¶¶ Thank you. . Oh, my God. Thank you. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:19:41 Thank you. Oh, my God. 0:26:11 Thank you. guitar solo Thank you. [2 such phrases repeated 10 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:27:11 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are out of recess at this time. 0:32:41 Senator Alma Francis-Hedega, you're recognized for your four minutes and we're in block number two. Good evening to the people of this territory, to my colleagues, to central staff and my staff alike. I rise in support of some if not all of the pieces of legislation in this block. We had an opportunity to do the Committee of the Whole where we discussed in depth several of these pieces of legislation and they are now placed on the agenda so we can vote on them we also have several resolutions 35-0195 honoring and commending mr. Willard John for his many contributions to the youth and culture of the Virgin Islands 350239 honoring Miss Claire Lorraine Brown Roker for her dedicated service to the community as well, specifically St. Croix. We also have 350242, a resolution honoring and commending Miguel Santos, Jr. aka Poppy Pops. I had the honor of participating in the hearing as these individuals came forward and we had many in the community really honor them and share with the public all the positive things that they have done to help progress the territory of the Virgin Islands. So I am definitely in support of this as it relates to the leases and zonings. For me anything that we could do as it relates to economic development and growth I'm in full support of and I return the balance of my time. Thank You Mr. President. Thank You Senator 0:36:09 Francis Heiliger. Senator Franklin D. Johnson, you're recognized for your four minutes. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I definitely don't need four minutes. I rise in support of all of these measures in this block. We have a little issues we have to work out, but the remainder of the block I'm definitely not supporting. I'm definitely supporting all the resolution, Mr. Willard John, Ms. Claire Roca, and Mr. Poppy Pops, DJ Pops, definitely supporting all of these resolutions. At the appropriate time, I will vote for all the remaining measures especially that uh project up in saint john with the um housing community the rental car unit in which gentleman see been there for some 30 something years and they can't find his lease so at the appropriate time i definitely will be supporting all of these measures thank you very much mr president thank you senator johnson senate majority minority leader senator duane md graph you recognize for your four minutes uh thank you Mr. President, I rise to support I would say everything that's on this block definitely is worthy calling Mr. Willard John, Mrs. Claire Lorraine Brown Roker, Mr. Miguel Santos Jr. aka DJ Poppy Pops, Virgin Islanders who are being recognized you know I'm a hundred percent for that man i mean definitely we must do support 0:37:57 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II our own uh for the leases for revenue generators big up kudos to those individuals man continue doing what they're doing uh again people in our territory we must show our support for them thank you for the time mr president thank you mr minority leader senator samuel carrion you're recognized for your four minutes Thank you. I rise in support of all the measures in this block. It's always an honor when I could be part of resolutions recognizing individuals in our community that have been serving and serving well. So, for example, in Bill 350195, the resolution honoring Mr. John, Mr. Willard John, I want to commend the sponsor of that measure. I have signed on to it. We know his dedication to our young people and to our culture. He's a culture bearer, so well-deserved. 35-0-2-39, an act honoring and commending Ms. Claire Lorraine Roker. As we know, the mayor of Frederickstead. She's very loved in a community, the lady that you cannot say no to, always involved and given back. Well-deserved. I have also signed on to that and 350242 Miguel Santos and owns at DJ Poppy Pops another person was actively involved within our community giving back to our children who are started an Academy to teach the art of DJing and also is involved in the areas of sports and with regards to the various leases and rezoning that we have also within this block it's always great to see individuals come forward entrepreneurs doing within our community contributing giving back but also leaving a legacy for their families in order to continue on we know that small businesses are the engine that drive our economy and anything we can do to support small businesses you can count on me to do so because we need them to be successful as they continue to contribute to our tax revenue and assist us here in the territory. So, Mr. President, I will be voting favorably for all these measures in this block. Thank you. Thank you very much, Senator Carrion. Next, we'll recognize Senator Giovanni James Sr. You recognize for your four minutes. Greetings to the people of the U.S. Virgin 0:39:44 Islands. Thank you, Mr. President, for the time. I just want to pinpoint that we have three bills on the agenda for St. John, so big up to St. John. Thank you, Mr. President, for the time. Thank you very much, Senator James Sr. Next, we'll come to Senator Angel Bulk, as you recognize for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President and colleagues, I rise in support of the measures in Block 2. The resolutions for Mr. Willard-John, for his contributions in the area of culture, the honoring of Ms. Claire Roker for her dedication to the community and all of the work that she's been doing throughout the decades, and also for Miguel Santos, a.k.a. DJ Pops for his contributions in the field of music and having a DJ school and teaching the art of DJing, in addition to also assisting the youth in sports such as softball. As for the measures concerning 35.0259, I'm in support of this measure. 0:41:52 I do want to make it clear that the Department of Property and Procurement and the BOC should have a strict obligation to be sure that the vendors are properly relocated, for that fact, to whatever new area that they may be able to lease. So I'm just hoping that they relocate them in a timely fashion pertinent to moving forward with the project. As for bill number 350281 To change the rezoning from low density to medium density Therefore creating more housing options on the island of St. John Of course, which we know that St. John is in dire need of the housing options Because of the geographic makeup and the national park As for bill number 35.0294 Granting at least a bank of popularity So that they may be able to have another ATM location That also helps our local population In addition to the tourists who visit here As another option where they can at least get funding In the time that they need to do so Also Bill No. 35.0308 Rezone in Inihai Cruise Bay Quarter To Secondary Business Neighborhood Mr. President, I have no objections whatsoever ever in this block. The only indication was that I hope that there is a strict obligation that the vendors are properly located prior to the commencement of that project. Thank you, Mr. President. 0:42:57 Thank you very much, Senator Bulquez. Senator Dona Frey Gregory, you recognize for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. And, you know, every now and again, you miss a meeting and you're disappointed. And I'll tell you that I was not present when these resolutions were passed for these Virgin Islanders, and I was disappointed. However, you know, every now and again you have duty calls elsewhere and you have to take care of that. But I will People say that the resolution honoring and commending Mrs. Claire Roca is very timely. 0:44:31 She has dedicated all of her life, contributing so much to the people, you would say the people of St. Croix, but it's actually the people of the Virgin Islands. I remember that my sister actually participated in Talented Teen and won. My sister, Kima Fret, was a talented teen here in the Virgin Islands. And we worked very closely with Ms. Rooka at that time. But she's also given so much more of herself to not only the youth and the young women in the Virgin Islands, but just overall, she has been a staple to the people of St. Croix. So I am very honored to be sitting in the legislature at the time when we honor such a great, an icon in her own right, Virgin Islander. So I am happy to participate in actually adding my name. I believe I've already added my name to this honor and commend. And then Miguel Santos. I call him mi familia because we are family. And it's honorable when individuals take their craft and they want to share it with young people. So he has, he actually has a little school where he's teaching DJing. And you know, these days, you know, we think that everybody has to go to college or they have to go to trade school. 0:45:25 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) 4 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II But we really need to recognize that there's money to be made, honest money to be made in different professions. So I want to commend him for the work that he's doing as well with the young people in the Virgin Islands. I know he's a real culture bearer, but what's amazing to me is how he'd give up on them mokujumbi sticks and really perform. I always, always wanted to be a mokujumbi. Yeah, I did. But I have the courage to get up my nose stills, I'm afraid of falling, I'm afraid of heights. So these are good Virgin Islanders and you know people talk about us working on resolutions but what we miss as we talk about us focusing on resolutions and we've done good work here in the 35th legislature, it's important that we recognize the individuals among us who serve our community because none of us are here to turn stone like my mother to see so we have to remember those whose shoulders we have we stand on and this is important work that we do here as we honor and commend individuals and of course the leases we've discussed them in our in committee before and these are all to support economic development and we know that we are challenged with our economy, and we should do everything in our power to ensure that we are able to support small businesses here in the Virgin Islands. So these leases would afford us to do that. We know we have the rebuilding of the Alva Swan facility in Sobis, and we have some challenges there, but at the appropriate time, I will make the decision to say yes, but we have to 0:46:54 make sure that we do right by our citizenry, and do right by the institution of the legislature. Allow me to finish, Mr. President, by sharing information in a timely fashion so we can make informed decisions. So whatever the decision is here tonight, I will support it. But I think it's important for us to communicate, communicate, communicate. And small business, I said, I spoke about that earlier with regards to the zoning for St. John. So I am in support of all of these measures that's before us. 0:48:45 Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Senator Fred Gregory. Senator Milton E. Potter, you recognize for your four minutes. Thank you very much, Mr. President, Madam Finance Chair. When you get to my kind of age, be careful with those mokujumbis. These bones don't mend as easily, OK? But I rise in support of all of the items in block number three, Mr. President. I had the opportunity to be a part of the Rules Committee, and we recently heard all of the resolutions in rules. And like I always say, it is vital, it is critical, it is important that we honor, commend, and recognize those among us who achieve excellence in their chosen areas of specialty. 0:49:19 And I think as Virgin Islanders, it is critical, it is vital for us to foster and develop a culture of appreciation, and that is what you're doing when you honor individuals of this caliber. Of course, Mr. Willard John for his extensive contributions in the area of youth and culture. all know Ms. Claire Roker, an official with the Department of Tourism and also a community person who has led a whole bunch of all of the pageants that we've seen and heard in St. Croix, talented teen over the decades. She was a mover and shaker in that regard. DJ Poppy Pops, I didn't even know his name was Miguel Santos. We all know him as Poppy Pops, brilliant musician, brilliant DJ, who has, he didn't say, I'm going to keep all the secrets to myself. And what's beautiful about what he's doing is he is teaching young aspiring DJs, teaching them all of the tricks of the trade. And so that is absolutely a very noteworthy thing that he's doing. With regards to the leases, you know most of them are focusing on small business development and we know that small businesses are really the engine in our community that fuels our economy. So the initiatives that Mr. Sproul is attempting on the island of St. John as well as former Senator Roosevelt. David, entrepreneur who's had his current business at that location for over 30 years. That is really admirable. That translates to taxes. It's a one-one fill basket. Small business here, small business there, paying your taxes. It fuels our economy. It runs our economy. One minute. So, Mr. President, at the appropriate time, I plan to vote in the affirmative for all of the initiatives in Block No. 2. 0:50:15 Thank you very much. Thank you very much. That's Milton Potter. Next, we'll hear from Senator Marie C. James. You're recognized for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. And I, too, rise in support of all the bills in block number two. It was, in fact, a joyous day when we had Mr. Willa John, Ms. Claire Lorraine Brown Roker, and Mr. Miguel Santos Jr. on St. Croix. and they all were in different areas but they all were in really what you would call the creative economy because they all have done such creative things in the Virgin Islands, ranging of course from Mr. Willajan with Mokojumbi and Promoting the culture of the Virgin Islands throughout the world, really, and going beyond that and teaching all those young people at the Alfredo Andrews School and still going strong after all these years. Claire Roca, of course, I knew from the time I was a little girl and remember her from first Miss Talented Teen show and how she took a lot of young ladies from St. Croix who won the crown and ended up winning the crown in the contest, Miss Talented Teen contest in the United States. 0:52:34 And then she continued, of course, with Miss St. Croix and other pageants. But I first knew Ms. Roca as a travel agent, and why really it's important that the Visitor's Centre be named after her, because she was someone who, on a daily basis, came face-to-face with visitors to the island, and of course did a wonderful job of promoting the Virgin islands and poppy pops dj poppy pops the other day i i went over to the baseball camp it's interesting he was in front of us for music and radio but people like poppy pops just um in in a way just go beyond the call of duty when it comes to community 0:54:15 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II involvement and so i went over to share pizza with the the baseball camp that that he is a volunteer and people need to understand that we have really good people in our community who volunteer of their time and effort and dj poppy pops is one of those people um who just who just gives of himself over and over again the leases one minute makes sense because obviously as my colleague said small business is the engine for any um economy and generating funds is important the resonance are necessary i was um you know i i looking back now the one thing that caught my eye was the relocation of the tenants and that's why I asked whether it was creating a hardship. And hopefully that's something we will resolve, but it's important that we move forward with the rezoning because it's necessary for the government. And of course, Mr. Sproul, what he's doing is very important. Housing is needed. We have a low inventory, especially on the island of St. John. And so anyone who decides to develop and provide housing for our people, especially those in the moderate and middle income bracket, that's important. So, Mr. President, at the appropriate time, I will vote in the affirmative. Thank you. Thank you very much, Senator Maurice James. Next, we'll hear from Senator Ray Fonseca. You're recognised for your four minutes. 0:56:14 Yes, thank you. Good evening, Mr. President. I, too, rise in support of all of these bills in Block 2. I do have one reservation in Bill No. 35-0259, but Bill 350195 honoring Mr. Willie John, principal, teacher, Master Mokojumbi. Mokujumbi. As a matter of fact, it's been said that all of the Mokujumbis in St. Croix have been trained by this man or trained by someone that he trained. Bill number 35-0239, Ms. Claire Roka Brown, naming the visitor's center at the Anne E. Abramson Marine Facility on St. Croix in her honor, you know, a wonderful Virgin Islander. You know, she served as assistant director of tourism. She made contributions in pageantry, politics, community service. She served as Democratic party chair um commendable individual bill number 35-0242 um miguel santos jr also known as dj poppy pops you know um he had that renowned hondo's nightclub stint anybody that went over to cruz know that hondos you're gonna hang out there on the weekend um you know the reggae jam um you know you know he also say he's a good break dancer you know he had felt a little injury so multi-talented individual and congratulations dj poppy pops bill number 35-0259 This here is where they're going to rezone those couple lots down there by the tank in St. Thomas. You know, they've got a big green tank. You know, I have one concern that the carpentry shop, I want to make sure that he gets adequate notice so that he's not displaced. You know, I was kind of a little disturbed about the testimony received. Sometimes, you know, when you come before the legislature, give us all the information so that we can make a proper decision, not we're finding out, you know, things differently, you know. But I'm still in support of the bill because we need that. You know, there's 73 detainees on St. Thomas and there's 18 inmates, a total of 91. One, you know, my concern is they told us a couple weeks ago that it was $300 upwards a day for a prisoner. And in the States, it was $67, but they're billing some more here, you know. So anyway, I supported Bill 35-0308. You know, we received the testimony here, and I am definitely in support of it. Mr. Sproul was here, and he's going to develop 22 three-story buildings, a total of 88 units. You know, that is a development that's needed in St. John, right, down from George Simmons Terrace. Everybody would know that the Housing Authority had 30 units at George Simmons Terrace, and those 30 units were sold to the occupants. They became homeownership. So that's admirable. So it's a way that you have more opportunity for affordable housing on the island of St. John. So at the appropriate time, Mr. President, I will be supporting all of these measures, even though I reluctantly would support Bill 35-0259. 0:57:00 And thank you very much, Mr. President, for the time. Thank you very much, Senator Fonseca. Next, we recognize Senator Dianne T. Keepard. You recognize for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in support of these consideration of leases, zonings, and resolutions. Everyone knows Willa John, who has been a culture bearer, a role model for our youths, introducing them to the art of Mukabjumbi. So I am definitely in support of that. Claire Roker, she has been in our community in St. Croix. I can start as far as her Pan Am days, travel agent, Paul Jackson, talented teen. She's been in our community contributing and she still is involved. Her latest biggest accomplishment was the Frederick Stead, Meadrick Cummings ballpark where she was the driver and the shaker of that rehabilitation of that park. So I am definitely going to give her my vote. 1:01:01 Puppy Pops. This is an individual that whatever challenges that he has encountered, he overcome them And he's still in our community giving back the camp, the baseball camp. They've reached out to all the St. Croix senators and made sure that we had some kind of involvement in giving back. So you were able to actually see him perform with these young men and volunteering. I have to give him that vote. 1:02:19 and even introducing our young man into the art of DJing and he's, he has big dreams on that. So poppy pups, I got you. Mr. President, I'm in support of all these other leases because some give economic development, housing opportunities. So I rise in support and I'm ready to vote. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Senator Capehart, Senate Minority Majority Leader, Senator Kenner-Gittins, you're recognized for your four minutes. 1:02:55 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Senator Kenner- Thank you, Mr. President. Seems like you're getting tired there. All right, good evening, colleagues. the items in this block, block number two, the honouring and commending of Mr. Willa John for his contribution to the youth and the culture of the Virgin Islands. Ms. Claire Lorraine Brown Roca for her dedicated service, naming the building down there, the Annie Abramson Marine Facility in her honor. 1:03:32 At some point, we'll be making an amendment for that, as we were told that that's not actually the Visitors Bureau, but actually belongs to the Port Authority. but nonetheless, she is deserving of this honor. Also, Mr. Miguel DJ Papi Pops Santos. All three are duly recognized for their hard work and dedication. You've heard of their impact and contribution to our children, community, and culture. So I'm looking forward to voting for all three of these individuals. Congratulations and a job well done. With regards to the zoning and leasing, you all know that I always say that zoning has no business here in the legislature and I really and truly believe that. 1:04:24 And zoning and leasing involves intricate legal, environmental and community impact considerations that would require expertise to do these things correctly and effectively. decisions of these zonings. And leases should also be made efficiently and in accordance with best practices. I just had a call last week, I think it was, from some St. Johnians. And one of them, I mean, you know, yes, he's a bali bali one, but one of them almost make me bali because, I mean, this gentleman, you could hear, he started crying in the phone because he's been on the government property leasing for many years, just about 20 years, and the lease ended. 1:05:18 However, everyone on that property had a month-to-month agreement, and behind their backs, the property, the government property, was leased to someone else. And so now they're hearing through the grapevine that they're about to be evicted. This shouldn't happen. This shouldn't happen. If we put the responsibility in the right place, then these experts can facilitate the proper dialogue with all those involved, all the stakeholders, so that we can avoid these things. So as I discuss these bills here today, I mean, we also heard from one of the individuals who is renting currently on one of these properties here in the St. Thomas, St. John District, that once we do this, he will be evicted. 1:06:11 So I'm hopeful that we as a legislative body will be able to do something where he can transition, maybe, if it hampers the project for the Bureau of Correction, that we take the responsibility, and we meaning through property and procurement, and relocate this individual so that he can continue his business. We talk about promoting economic progress, we got to support our own. Apparently this gentleman is one of the, he's a good crafter because we're told that these very desks that we're sitting at are the desks that were built by this gentleman. So we can't afford for him to be just thrown out like that. So I'm asking that at the appropriate time, if this bill were to pass so that we don't hamper the funding, and I beg your indulgence, Mr. President, I'll wrap up right here, that we make sure that we're able to transition this gentleman's business and move him to another suitable site. 1:07:04 Thank you for the time, Mr. President and colleagues. Thank you very much, Majority Leader, Senator Kenneth Gittins. Next, we'll come to the Vice President, Senator Marvin Blyton, you recognize for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in support of all of the bills in this block and I do echo the sentiments of the Majority Leader. That young man also called me. And I know him personally, he's been there for over 20 years, and there is no way we should be be treating our people like that. That's unacceptably in my book and something needs to be done in that respect. In respect to the resolutions in this block, definitely I would be supporting Mr. Willard John. The work he has done is commendable, especially when it comes to our young people and teaching them the art of Moko Junbi and keeping the culture alive. In In respect to Ms. Claire Roker, her dedication in the tourism industry and all that she has done in the territory, and also Mr. DJ Papi Pops. 1:08:11 Everyone knows Papi Pops from being on the radio and also what he's doing these days with the young people. When it comes to the other zoning requests, I must say that economic development is very important in the territory. And the leases and the zoning requests, I must say, I want to speak specifically to bill number 35.0281. Of course, we heard him earlier, some $40 to $100 million investment on the island of St. John when it comes to housing development and infrastructure. It's critical though that on the island of St. John in particular, as it's almost unreachable to obtain a home, an affordable home, here in the territory. These type of investment will go a long way in terms of, number one, basically having jobs for many individuals when it comes to the construction phase. So what I will do is help with revenue in terms of taxes and fees and other things that have to do with home ownership opportunities. When it comes to bill number 3.0284, the car rental that has been around for many years to help that individual to continue a family legacy and also the other bills in this block I do support. mr president i want to thank you for the time uh thank you very much senator blighton vice president and if the madam timekeeper could put four minutes on the clock for me um real quickly i stand in support and all of the measures in this block number two of course the resolution honoring and commending mr willard john for his many contributions and his work with the youth and culture of the virgin islands is certainly commendable and he still have a lot of fire in him and continues to do his part in keeping our culture alive and we truly 1:09:16 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II appreciate that not to mention again we have the number of mocha jumbies young mocha jumbies that um that he continued to um excite uh this community with and just thank him for his contribution uh certainly my bill which speaks to the honoring of commending miss uh claire lorraine brown roker and her contribution and naming the visitor center after her is something that we are delighted to do. Claire Roca has really made her contribution her mark in the tourism industry as well as to the pageantry throughout the D. Virgin Islands for a number of years and she's still going strong. 80 plus years but Claire Roca is still going strong and they're talking about age. I want to put people out of the office because age and we got them 80 year olds still going strong. They're doing better than some of them young people. 1:11:32 Bill honoring and commending, Miguel Santos, DJ Papi Pops, again, we know Papi Pops and his contribution over the years, and he's not just a DJ, he's a talented baseball player, and that's why you see him on the field, and imparting some of that knowledge and experience on our young children there in the Virgin Islands, and especially there in St. Croix. So, you know, Miguel Santos, DJ Papi Pops, kudos to you and your contribution to the people of the Virgin Islands. 1:12:15 You know, Bill 35.0259 that you heard a lot of discussion on today in regards to the BOC expansion of the annex there and the build out. You know, my career tell me that there's always several sides to a story. And, you know, today we have a discussion that have been had for the last 10 years or so between the Department of Property and Procurement and the leasee of this property. You know, going back and forth in terms of how to resolve this particular issue. We have the request by BOC to do the expansion here where a tremendous amount of money and time have already been spent on this build out. We got a call saying that there was no discussion with him in regards to the lease of this building in particular 106 and you know after communicating with property and procurement and others we realized that this has been a 10-year discussion in regards to reclaiming this property for other use as well as there were the documents that was provided I've asked to share with my colleagues up to August of 2023 where there was a quit and vacate notice sent out to this gentleman I hoping that we could at least move this measure so that we we don't compromise the funding that have been earmarked for the build-out of this facility, as well as to ensure that there are some conditions be put forth that require the Department of Property and Procurement to be able to meet, you know, this leasing halfway and help them to relocate there. 1:12:50 In regards to the lease agreement with the Royal Enterprise, Inc., doing business as best car rental, we're certainly in support of that, as well as the Banco Popular lease as well as the lease to the property on 294 Estate Canton in Inai and of course Mr. Sparrow and his desire to be able to develop some property over in Adrian. We certainly wish him well and will be supporting that lease as well. This completes the time and debate time on Block No. 2, and I'll ask the Madam Clerk to call up the bills for a vote. 1:14:22 Bill No. 35.0195, a resolution honoring and commending Mr. Willard Jamm for his many Any contributions to the youth and the culture of the Virgin Islands? Roll call on bill number 35.0195. Senator Marvin A. Blyden? Senator Blyden? 1:15:18 Sen. Angel L. Bocas Jr. Sen. Bocas Jr. Sen. Dianne T. Capehart Sen. Capehart Sen. Samuel Carillon Sen. Dwayne M. De Graff Sen. De Graff Sen. Ray Fonseca Sen. Fonseca Sen. Novelli Francis Jr. Sen. Fonseca Sen. Alma Francis Heiliger Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. 1:15:53 Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory, yay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins, yes. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James, yes. Senator James, yay. Senator Jovan E. James Sr., yes. Senator James Sr., yay. Senator Franklin D. Johnson, yes. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph, Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter, Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 14 yays, one absent. 1:16:26 Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35, that's 0195, a resolution honoring and commending Mr. Willard John for his many contributions to the youth and culture of the Virgin Islands have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk Bill number 35-0239 An act honoring and commending Mrs. Claire Lorraine Brown Roker for her dedicated service to the Virgin Islands community by naming the Visitor's Center at the Anne E. Abramson Marine Facility St. Croix, Virgin Islands the Claire L. Roker Visitor's Center Roll call on bill number 35-0239 Senator Marvin A. Blyton Senator Blyton, yay Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr Senator Bocas, Jr Senator Dianne T. K. Park Senator K. Park, yay Senator Samuel Carrion Senator Carrion, yay Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff Senator DeGraff, yay Senator Ray Fonseca Senator Fonseca, yay Senator Novelli Francis, Jr Senator Francis Jr. Senator Alma Francis Heilegger Senator Francis Heilegger Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory Senator Fred Gregory Senator Kenneth L. Gittins Senator Gittins Senator Maurice C. James Senator James Senator Javan E. James Sr. Senator James Sr. Senator Franklin D. Johnson Senator Johnson Senator Carla J. Joseph Joseph? Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 1:17:03 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) 8 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II 14 yeas, one absent. Bill number 30. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35, that's 0239, an act honoring and commending Ms. Claire Lorraine Brown-Roker for her dedicated service to the Virgin Islands community by name of the Visitor's Center at the Annie Abramson's Marine Facilities in Cori, Virgin Islands. The Claire L. Roker Visitor's Center has been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands and will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. 1:18:54 Bill No. 35-0242, a resolution honouring and commending Miguel Santos Jr. A.K.A. DJ Poppy Pops for his contribution in the field of music and in radio broadcasting of musical events and local social musical events and specifically contributing to the art of DJing and the teaching of DJing. Bill number 35.0242. Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Senator Blyden. Senator Angel L. Bocaz Jr. 1:19:29 Senator Bocaz Jr. Senator Bocaz Jr. Senator Dianne T. Capehart Senator Capehart Senator Samuel Carillon Senator Carillon Senator Duane M. DeGraff Senator DeGraff Senator Ray Fonseca Senator Fonseca Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Senator Francis Jr. Senator Alma Francis Hyliger. yeaI Senator Francis Hyliger yeaI Senator Franklin D Johnson yea immediate Senator Joseph absent. Senator Milton E. Potter. Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 14 yeas, one absent. 1:20:05 Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35.0242, a resolution under and in commanding Miguel Santos, Jr., aka DJ Pops, for his contributions in the field of music and in the radio broadcasting of musical events and local social musical events, and specifically contributing to the art of DJing and the teaching of DJing has been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands. I will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0259, an act amending the official zoning map number STZ-4 for the island of St. Thomas to change the zoning designation of plots number 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, and 109, Estate Nisky, Subbase, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, from C. Commercial to P. Public Zoning. 1:21:06 Roll call on Bill No. 35.0259. Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Senator Blyden. Senator Biden. Not voting. Senator Angel L. Wilkes Jr. Senator Lucas Jr., yay Senator Dianne T. Capehart Senator Capehart, yay Senator Samuel Carrion Senator Carrion, not voting Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff Senator DeGraff, nay Senator Ray Fonseca Senator Fonseca Senator Fonseca, yay Senator Novelli Francis Jr., yay Senator Francis Jr., yay Senator Alma Francis Holliger Senator Francis Heiliger, not voting Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory Senator Fred Gregory, yay Senator Kenneth L. Gittins Senator Gittins, yay Senator Maurice C. James Senator James, yay Senator Javan E. James, senior Senator James, senior, yay Senator Franklin D. Johnson Senator Johnson, nay Senator Carla J. Joseph Senator Joseph, absent Senator Milton E. Potter Senator Potter, not voting Mr. President, eight yays, two nays one absent, four not voting Thank you, Madam Clerk Bill number 35.0259 an act amending the official zone and map STZ-4 for the island of St. 1:22:05 Please, I'm sorry, can you record Senator Blyden's vote as yes, on tally? Senator Blyden, yay. Mr. President, nine yays, two nays, one absent, three not voting. Thank you. Madam Clerk, bill number 35-0259, an act amending the official zoning map STZ-4 for the island of St. Thomas to change the zoning designation of plots number 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, and 109, a state Nisqy sub base, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, from C, commercial, to P, public zoning has been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands or will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. 1:23:51 Bill No. 35-0281, an act amending the official zoning map number SJZ-1 for the island of St. John to change the zoning designation of parcel numbers 17F-2 and 17F-remainder, Estate Adrian, No. 18, Cruz Bay Quarter, St. John, Virgin Islands, from R-1, residential low density, to R-4, residential medium density. Roll call on Bill No. 35.0281. 1:24:41 Senator Marvin A. Blyton? Yes. Senator Blyton? Yes. Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr.? Yes. Senator Bocas, Jr.? Yes. Senator Diane T. Capehart? Yes. Senator Capehart? Yes. Senator Samuel Cadillone? Yes. Senator Cadillone? Yes. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff? Yes. Senator DeGraff? Yes. Senator Ray Fonseca Senator Fonseca Senator Novelli Francis Jr Senator Francis Jr Senator Alma Francis Heiliger Senator Francis Heiliger Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory Senator Fred Gregory Senator Kenneth L. Gittins Senator Gittins Senator Marie C. James Senator James Yes. Yes. 1:25:16 Yes. Yes. Senator James Senior. Yes. Yes. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Yes. Yes. Senator Johnson. Yes. Senator Karla J. Joseph. Yes. Senator Joseph absent. Senator Milton E. Potter. Yes. Senator Potter. Yes. Senator Potter. Yes. Mr. President · fourteen yays, one absent. Thank you very much, Madame Clark. Bill Number 35-0281, And Act Amending the Official Zoning Map SJZ-1 For the Island of st john to change the zoning designation of parcels number 17 f dash 2 17 f remainder estate adrian number 18 cruise bay quarter st john virgin islands from r1 residential low density to r4 residential medium density has been approved by the members of the 35th legislature of the virgin islands will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action next item madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0284, an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the Virgin Islands, acting through its commissioner of the Department of Property and Procurement and Roll Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Best Car Rental, Parcel number 294, Este Contant 1:26:08 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II and Ena Hyde, Cruz Bay Quarter, St. John, Virgin Islands, for the continued operation of a car rental of a car and jeep rental business and for other related purposes roll call and bill number 35.0284 senator marvin a blyton senator blyton yay senator angel l bokes jr Senator Boquez, Jr., yay. Senator Dianne T. Capehart, yes. Senator Capehart, yay. Senator Samuel Carrion, yes. Senator Carrion, yay. Senator Duane M. DeGraff, yes. Senator DeGraff, yay. Senator Ray Fonseca, yes. Fonseca, yay. Senator Fonseca, yay. Senator Novelli Francis, Jr. Senator Francis, Jr., yay Senator Alma Francis-Heiliger Senator Francis-Heiliger, yay Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory Senator Fred Gregory, yay Senator Kenneth L. Gittins Senator Gittins, yay Senator Maurice C. James Senator James, yay Senator Javon E. James, Sr. Senator James, Sr., yay Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. 1:28:07 Senator Johnson? Yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Senator Joseph? Absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter? Yay. Mr. President, 14 yays, one absent. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0284, an act amending approving the lease agreement between the government of the Virgin Islands, acting through its commission of the Department of Property and Procurement and Rural Enterprise, Inc., doing business as best car rental. Parcel number 294, Estate, Canton, and Inai, Cruise Bay, Quarter, St. John, Virgin Islands, for the continued operation of the car and Jeep rental business and for other related purposes have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. 1:28:45 Bill number 35.0294, an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the Virgin Islands and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico for a portion of plot number 48B, Noragada, King's Quarter, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Roll call on bill number 35.0294. Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Yay. Senator Blyden, yay. Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr. Yay. senator bulke jr yay senator diane t capehart senator capehart yay senator samuel caddion senator caddion yay senator duane m de graf senator de graf yay senator ray fonseca senator fonseca yay senator novelli francis jr senator francis jr yay senator alma francis heiliger Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. Senator Fred Gregory. Senator Fred Gregory, yay. 1:29:36 Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Yes. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James. Senator James, yay. Senator Javan E. James Sr. Yes. Senator James Sr., yay. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Yes. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Kala J. Joseph? Senator Joseph? Absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Senator Potter? Yay. 1:30:42 Mr. President, 14 yays, one absent. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0294, an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the Virgin Islands and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico for the portions of lot number 48B, Noragata, King's Quarter. St. Thomas Virgin Islands have been approved by the members of the 35th legislature of the Virgin Islands to be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. Bill No. 35-0308, an act amending official zoning map No. SJZ-7, St. John, Virgin Islands to rezone parcel No. 294, Estee-Contant and Ena Hyde, Cruz Bay Quarter, St. John from R-4, residential medium density to B-2, Business Secondary Neighborhood. Roll call on Bill No. 35.0308. 1:31:08 Senator Marvin A. Blyden? Yeah. Senator Blyden? Yeah. Senator Angel L. Bulquez, Jr.? Yeah. Senator Bulquez, Jr.? Yeah. Senator Diane T. Capehart? Yeah. Senator Capehart? Yeah. Senator Samuel Cadillac? Yes. Senator Cadillac? Yeah. Yes. Senator Duane M. DeGraff? Yes. Senator DeGraff? Yes. Senator Ray Fonseca? Yes. Senator Fonseca? 1:32:06 Yes. Senator Fonseca? Yes. Senator Fonseca? Yes. Senator Fonseca? Yes. Senator Nouvelle Francis Jr.? Yes. Senator Alma Francis-Heiliger? Yes. Senator Francis-Heiliger? Yes. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? Yes. Senator Fred Gregory? Yes. Senator Kenneth L. Gittens? Yes. Yes. Senator Gittens? Yes. Senator Maurice C. James? Yes. Senator James? Yes. Senator Javan E. James Senior? Yes. Senator James Senior? Yes. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. Senator Johnson? Yes. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Yes. Senator Joseph? Absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter? Yes. Mr. President, 14 yays, 1 absent. 1:32:33 Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill No. 35.0308, an act amending official zoning map SJZ-7, St. John, Virgin Islands, to rezone parcels No. 294, Estate, Canton, and Inahai, Cruz Bay Quarter, St. John, from R-4, residential medium density to B-2, business secondary neighborhood, have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands and will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Point of information, Senator Gittins. 1:33:20 Thank you, Mr. President. Point of information, I just wanted to the public to know that I did receive the letter that you spoke about with regards to the notice to quit and vacate, and it was dated August 7th to that one individual who was leasing. However, again, we really need to take a look at getting the experts to deal with this because if you get a 90-day notice to quit and vacate from August 7th, 2023 and you're still there on the government property, then that's a problem because there are legal measures to take. 1:33:59 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II The problem that I'm having right now is that we're also receiving information that the Department of Property and Procurement is still, up to July 1st of this year, is collecting rent from this individual. So we say one, we say two. Colleagues, I'm going to really work with legal counsel to get that measure where we will move the zoning and leasing from the legislature so that these matters could be properly handled because we're getting partial information. but i just wanted the record to reflect like the president stated that he did uh or that we did receive information that the individual got a 90-day uh notice to quit and vacate dated august 7th 2023 thank you mr president uh thank you very much senator but the dollar additional information was provided there was a month-to-month extension while they were working with the um lc uh to you know hopefully find alternate location however uh there have been some stalemate in respect to moving forward and this i think we still have a culpability to ensure that the government work with this lacy to find alternate location the government has a lot of line a lot of spaces that's available and we should still make every effort to make sure that there is some um transition between the Lisi but we can't have individual that that commandeer government property over a period of time and and you know we have to be able to stop critical projects as a result of that there's a tremendous amount of money and time that have gone into the design for this property and a lot of conversation that have been had you know it's been placed in our lap unfortunately over the last couple of hours but you know this is something that been in the work for quite some time now and we are being placed in this unnecessary quagmire as a result of individuals not you know ensuring that they do what was necessary before that measure gets to us but nonetheless we'll do our part to make sure that what needs to be done will be done at this time madam clerk please call up the items in block number three 1:34:43 Block number three, consideration of bills. Bill number 35.0229, an act honoring and commending the eighth elected governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth Ezra Mapp, for his years of service to the people of the Virgin Islands, and naming Route 75 on the island of St. Croix from Basin Triangle, intersection at Route 70, Estate Richmond, and ending at Crouse Lagoon, the Governor Kenneth E. Mapp Highway. appropriating $45,000 from the General Fund of the Treasury of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the Department of Public Works to implement the mandates of this act to bestow the Virgin Islands Medal of Honor on Kenneth Ezra Mapp and for other related purposes. Bill number 35-0240, an act transferring the administration of the Government Insurance Fund from the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Finance to the Commissioner of Virgin Islands Department of Labor and amending various sections of Title 24, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 11, to facilitate better recovery for injury or disease that arises out of and in the course of employment in the Virgin Islands under the workers compensation administration and to ensure that workers entitled to workers compensation benefits receive medical rehabilitation services and disability compensation without undue delay by merging the benefits and payment components of the workers compensation insurance program bill number 35.0269 an act amending title 2 virgin islands code chapter 1 by adding a section 1:36:57 10 providing a penalty for the commission of perjury in proceedings before the legislature of the virgin islands bill number 35.0311 an act to ensure that the virgin islands water and power authority wapa seeks technical assistance from the u.s department of energy doe the u.s army corps of engineers and relevant federal government agencies to modernize its electrical grid and water system improve reliability enhance efficiency and incorporate advanced technologies bill number 35-0312 an act providing an appropriation from the school of maintenance and construction fund to the virgin islands department of education for the resurfacing repairs restoration construction and maintenance of the ivana e dorican high school track and field facilities bill number 35.0301 an act amending title 34 virgin islands code chapter 8 section 206a by requiring the government of the virgin islands to bear the cost of forensic medical exams for victims of rape or unlawful sexual contact in any degree regardless of whether the victim cooperates with law enforcement or has health insurance bill number 35.01 excuse me bill number 35.0310 an act appropriating the sum of 250 000 from the saint croix capital improvement fund to the virgin island's water and power authority for the emergency restoration of electrical services in the bugby hole and spring garden slash spring gut areas of the island on the island of st croix bill number 35.0313 an act appropriating 100 000 to the virgin island department of human services to provide emergency funding for the meals on wheels program bill number 35.0314 1:38:48 an act amending acts numbers 87 59 and 86 17 reprogramming 100 000 previously appropriated to the Elmo Plaskett Little League West on St. Croix and the Alvin McBean Little League on St. Thomas to the Virgin Islands Little League District, Girls Softball, St. Croix and St. Thomas slash St. John. Bill number 35-0305, an act appropriating the sum of $1 million from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works for emergency grass and bush cutting on the island of St. Croix. 1:40:51 Bill number 35-0262, an act appropriating $1,434,950 in fiscal year 2024 from the Community Facilities Trust Fund for the pre-construction soft cost funding to prepare the Charlotte Amarley Harbor for dredging. This concludes the reading of Block 3, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Senator Johnson here gave me trouble over here. 1:41:29 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II There we have it. Colleagues, we have four minutes. Four minutes. Three, huh? Yeah. No, no, it's 100,000. There's a correction on that. It should not be three. It's saying three on the agenda, but it's actually 100,000. Okay, that's bill 35.0313 is actually $100,000 appropriated for the Virginia Department of Human Services to provide emergency meals and wheels program. Yes. 1:42:04 I'm Frances, I think you're recognized, you got four minutes. Thank you. Good evening. Again, I rise in support of Bill number 35-0229, an act honoring and commending the eighth elected governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth Ezra Mapp. I appreciate the fact when we individually single out people for their accomplishments and we make note of that. I also would like to rise in support of the act number 35-0311 as it relates to making sure that we get some technical support on behalf of WAPA. One of the things that when we went into the state of emergency I specifically asked of the individuals that were in the task force of government house if we had reached out to get federal assistance they never answered that so apparently we have to deal with it now. As it relates to 35-0312 definitely is going to be supporting this one as whatever we have to do to assist with fixing the track to assist with Eudoric and track so we could have some track and field situations bill number 35-0301 with us making sure that we include in the code that there will be some type of free forensic medical exams for people that are dealing with violence of a sexual nature so that they could get some assistance and for us to be able to get the necessary federal dollars to help with that. I also want to focus on bill number 35-0269. I will not be supporting this piece of legislation and my concern with this piece of legislation is very simple. Back in 2001 this particular article came out it says Senator Heiliger proposes a bill to punish and convict testifiers for knowingly lying to the legislature following a VITEMA testimony and during that test during the testimony that was given on this Senate's floor that day several things came about and because of this it triggered me to submit legislation to pass a law that law was passed two years ago on july the 20th and it was act number 85 87 1:42:46 within that law it spoke to several things that could or could not be done and it spoke to individuals willfully and knowingly make or present false fictitious fraudulent claims it spoke to in section two false conceal and covering up tricks schemes and devices and material facts or it speaks to making use of false bills receipts vouchers accounts claims certificates affidavits depositions it continues on or make any materially false or fraudulent statement or represent representations or submit or invite reliance on any forged altered or fictitious writings documents samples specimens maps and a series of things and it goes on to say within the jurisdiction of the executive legislative and judicial branches when that those lies were told on the senate floor that triggered this piece of legislation when i worked with legal counsel they assured me that the way this bill was drafted not only did it encompass the legislature but i wanted to expand it to the entire government because why would you create a law to just say lie into the legislature when people could lie to the other branches and create the same habit even when I look back at the video the intent of this legislation when I stood on this floor I clearly spoke to people lying to this body so this is all documented I'm concerned that because when I work with legal counsel time the piece may I wrap up message here the piece of legislation that is being 1:45:23 brought forward another legal counsel that is here two years after the fact shared with us that they believe that it's only limited to false claims. They also shared that my concern when it deals with writings, one of the things that I specifically had requested to be put in this legislation, because we're in an electronic age, I also wanted to ask when I was dealing with the attorney, I asked them, how do I include if people send this stuff electronically, we added a section B that spoke to electronic writings. So I'm concerned where if we're going to have two pieces of legislation that covers the same identical thing written into the code that potentially can be conflicting with each other. Because within this piece of documentation, I speak to five years punishment for people lying to institutions and the government, the other thing speaks to 30 days so I just wanted to say my concerns with that because it will create havoc last thing the public has been reaching out to us in regards to some two hundred thousand dollars I would like to tell the public I have no idea what any of you are talking about because I find it very disingenuous that members of the executive branch is going to the media making these type of statements thanking us for stuff I and several of my colleagues know nothing about so I don't know anything about two hundred thousand dollars so until I see something please I beg the public do not lay it at the doorstep of the legislature of the Virgin Islands thank you very much mr. thank you very much senator francis heidegger senator johnson franklin johnson you recognize for your four 1:47:21 minutes thank you very much mr president i rise in support of all of these measures in this block i can speak the entire night about bill number 350229 the whole night after working for four years with governor kenneth ezra map i could see what the man vision was and some of the things him that he had planned for this territory but i'll be very brief very brief just talking about the stafford act what used to happen prior to governor map and members of this body going to congress and discussing the stafford act prior to governor map and a couple members of this body going to congress discussing the way we would rebuild you could have had a whole window and one shade break that's all you're gonna get fixed when the stafford act was revised once your property or any government property is damaged up to 50 percent you get a total rebuild so you get to build back stronger and harder and that's one of the key factor in allowing this territory to get this 1:49:16 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II eight billion plus dollars if that didn't happen we will still be replacing and repairing windows one shed versus the whole window we will still be replacing half of a building when the other part is pretty much halfway damaged so just that alone earns my pledge to this measure and i'm asking all my colleagues for the support which i think everyone have already supported bill number 35 269 i i understand my colleague here and her concern but i i too really believe we have to make sure that when people come here and they tell us story like what they tell us today like what they tell us a week ago about both you're paying 300 and something dollars for a prisoner for one day in the virgin island and 60 something in the united states but yet you want to bring all of them back home to pay 300 and something this is the reason why you send them away these are stories you can't keep playing games you gotta be fish or fowl okay okay and be both and you're coming to us with one story at one point but today no you want our assistance you're telling us we need to build this but just the other day you say cast us 300 plus dollars a day and i assure you that was not a factual statement doesn't cause that kind of money to hold a prisoner in this territory when you listen to some of the condition that exists in the facility where is they spending that three hundred dollars when you talk to these prisoners i get calls daily the meals them that i get in for breakfast for lunch some of us won't even want to give it to our dog or our cat i'm telling you i've seen pictures of what going on inside there so don't tell me you're spending three hundred dollars a day but yet the men them are barely being fed don't tell me you have programs putting them on the street yet look at the streets on the island of saint croix look at the streets you can't get one of them to go to work yes we got an agreement with public work these things have to stop because when people come to this body and gives us story we make decisions off of story that's not factual and it creates a lot of hardship in this territory because we're making the wrong decision half the time but we're making the decision based on the stories and the lie that is coming in front of us so i definitely would like to see some kind of measures being passed where we definitely gonna hold people accountable and trust me once you lock up one and you penalize one everybody gonna do all of a not i cannot recall i assure you that that's what you're gonna be hearing from now on in this body. Once you lack up one, and we have to stand strong and firm as a body to make sure we hold people accountable. At the appropriate time, I will be supporting all of these measures in this block. Thank you very much, Mr. President. 1:51:34 Thank you. Thank you very much, Senator Johnson. Next, we'll recognize the minority leader, Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff, you recognize for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. Good evening, colleagues. I stand in support of definitely bill number 35-0229, an act honoring and commending the eighth elected governor of the Virgin Islands, Governor Kenneth Ezra Mapp, and naming a road after governor, where's the highway, ending Bassin Triangle intersection at Route 70, estate richmond and ending at coast lagoon well deserving i mean um we could talk who we want when they call my name call my name for the right way i support this legislation 100 you know our children when i see these two bills well these here for the young generation and everyone but um i'll start with bill number 35-0314 an act amending acts uh numbers 87 59 and 86 17 reprogramming a hundred thousand dollars uh appropriate monies for the emma plasticity league west sinker and alvin mcbean little league on saint thomas to put a hundred thousand dollars toward the children i believe it even might be late but hey the audio representing the ambassadors to this territory we're supposed to support them so i am definitely in support of that also uh bill number 35.0312 in regards to resurfacing eudora can track so we could have world-class events in track and field a that in itself is sports tourism bring revenue generation to the territory and provide the facility, the upgraded facility for the Ivana-Yudorkin, the raised country. Bill number 35-0301, an act of many of our nine code, to bear the cause for forensic medical exams, victim of rape, I think that bill is priceless. To the millennial, thank you very much for that one because it is much needed to assist a victim wouldn't have gone through this kind of trauma, there should be some kind of assistance. And basically, that's a big plus. And then I will go accordingly. I'm in support of most, if not all, of these 1:53:26 bills in this block. Thank you for the time, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Mr. Minority Leader. Next, we'll recognize Samuel Carrion. You'll recognize for your four minutes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, I rise in support of most, if not all, the measures within this block. Most of these were discussed in different committees of jurisdictions and were vetted. Others of course were brought to the floor today as special order because of the severity of the need for some of these things to be implemented and carried out. So Bill number 350229, an act honoring and commending the eighth elected governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth Ezra Mapp, for his years of service to the people of Virgin Islands. I'm honored to be part of this body and to be able to today cast my vote. In support of this measure, I had the privilege of working with this great man and serving under his leadership within his administration. And I can bear witness of the work, the dedication and determination of our former governor, Mapp, when it came to the people of these Virgin Islands. It's incredible at times, I could still recall, even when he had injured himself, and he still came to work long hours. And I would ask him, what are you doing here? You should be home resting. And he said, you know, there's no time for the worry, and he had work to do on behalf of the people. And he didn't even realize that he had a fracture, and after that, he continued to come with his clutches to work because he understood it was important. So a man who has 1:55:59 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II served our territory in various capacities, from being a police officer, being a senator, being the director of PFA, being a lieutenant governor, being the governor of Virgin Islands. So his life has been to the service of the people of Virgin Islands. So this is very worthy and deserving of him. Also Bill 34-02-40, which is also ensuring that the workers are entitled to work compensation transferring the administration of the government insurance fund, I think is necessary and we heard the testimonies in the committee jurisdiction. Bill 35-02-69, I heard my colleague today make her presentation or her plea with regards to the motion and her proposed legislation that became law. But today we have another bill before us that even though there are some similarities is different, this one is providing the penalty for the commission of perjury in proceedings before this body. Anything that would protect the integrity of this body and hold accountable individuals that come before us, I am in favor of that. So I say enough is enough, it is time to hold individuals accountable, understand that this branch of government must be respected also, and that there are consequences when you come before us and are not truthful with your presentation. Bill number 3503-11, an act to ensure the Virgin's Water and Power Authority seeks technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. I commend the sponsor of this measure. I myself wrote a letter on June 5th to the governor, and I sent it to also the delegate to Congress, imploring that this administration would seek the assistance of the Army Corp of engineer, imploring that this administration would seek federal assistance to help us in this moment that we're in this energy crisis. If we are in energy crisis, then we have to act so and seek the system technical help that we need to ensure that our people receive the services that they're entitled to. The days of living and like a third world country has to come to an end and we need to seek help and so I sign on to this measure with the sponsor of this measure. The other bill, Bill 350301, can also sponsor this measure, which bears a cost of forensic medical exam to victims of rape. So I think this is much needed. And thank you, Mr. President, I will be voting in favor for these measures. 1:58:15 Thank you. Thank you very much, Senator Carrillo. Next, we'll recognize Senator Giovanni James Sr., you're recognized for your four minutes. Greetings to the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Thank you, Mr. President, for the time. feeling so energized I think we can do like eight more hours yeah but I heard about the energy crisis but I think we really have a spending crisis hence why anyway we have a spending crisis I'll leave it as that but anyway I'd receive a letter from mr. Moleto Smith Molito Smith in support of my legislation that have before the body today and that's bill number 35-0301 and colleagues I'm asking you to support this measure. This bill is an Acomending Title 34 Virgin Islands Code Chapter 8 Section 206A by requiring the government of the Virgin Islands to bear the cost of forensic medical exams for victims of rape or unlawful sexual contact in any degree regardless of whether the victim cooperates with law enforcement or has health insurance. This is not an unfunded mandate. By us changing this section of the code, it opens the Virgin Islands to be eligible for federal funds, specifically from the U.S. Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Act formula grant funding. Without this amendment in the Virgin Islands Code, the Virgin Islands will not be eligible for the receipt of these federal grant funding. I'm asking everybody to support this measure. Thank you for your time. And like I said, we don't really have an energy crisis. We have a spending crisis, colleagues. So let's be wise with the government funds. Thank you, Mr. President, for the time. Thank you very much, Senator James Sr. And next, we'll hear from Senator Angel Bocas Jr. Senator Lodge, you're recognized for your four minutes. 2:00:31 Thank you, Mr. President. mr president and colleagues i rise in support of most of these measures and i'll start off with you know these governor bills that'll flare up a lot of emotion you know uh just ask me i try to make a governor's day they put me on a cross and nail me up but here i am today and when you try to name the promenade they'll try to nail you down too but with all due respect that is the highest seat in the virgin islands and anybody who takes that seat will always get my respect i will say that and i will support bill number three five dash zero two two nine uh for the efforts of farmers farmer government well farmer senator farmer police whoever but farmer governor kenneth map as for bill number three five dash zero two four zero concerning the government insurance fund um to streamline the processes for those workers receiving timely benefits uh media medical coverage and rehabilitation per uh services being that we're gonna shift it over to the department of labor they'll be able to see those um those checks coming in a lot faster. Concerning Bill number 35-0311, supporting the technical assistance, a very much needed endeavor because what some of the issues that we have here is actually technical issues with how we are able to find the human resources to be able to do the job. We have a lot of issues in the energy crisis, whether it's financial resources, but human resources are also a part of the equation that needs to be covered. So I commend the bill sponsor for that initiative. As for bill number 35-0313, appropriate in 300,000 to human services 2:02:32 to provide emergency funding for Medicaid and Meals on Wheels, definitely in support of that as well. And before my time runs out, I know that there's a measure to have a penalty for the Commission on Perjury, but I cannot support that measure as I feel that it is redundant in reflection to Act No. 8587. I understand the purpose of why it's trying to be done, but based on the language that I've seen in front of me, it seems as if it's redundant, so I cannot support that measure. As 2:04:35 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II for Bill number 35-0301, requiring the government of the Virgin Islands to bear the cost of forensic medical exams for victims of rape and unlawful sexual contact in any degree, definitely I commend the bill sponsor for that, as well for those individuals who have been harmed and wronged. And I leave the rest of my time. Thank Mr. President. Thank you very much. Senator Bolquez, next we'll hear from the finance chair. Senator Donna Fred Gregory, you recognize for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President, and I rise in support of all of these measures in this block. I am certain that I don't, wouldn't need my entire four minutes because the majority of these measures went through the committee process, but I wish to speak this evening about, and I've, I've shared, I've spoke about it before, but I think it's so important for us to drill down on what's happening at the Virgin Islands World on Power Authority, and the fact that we are in a state of emergency, and there's some things that we have to do as elected leaders, and it's important for us to recognize that we've seen the Virgin Islands World on Power Authority before the institution of the legislature on many occasions. And we've asked for a strategic plan with regards to the disaster recovery and the way forward of reducing the cost of electricity and the challenges that we have with the water system. And I strongly believe that it's time for us to really engage the federal government in a meaningful way, and the Secretary for the Department of Energy, Secretary Staghom was here, not Staghom, Granholm was here last week and shared with us that if we need technical assistance, we need to ask, and sometimes we have to nudge our C-suite leaders in the territory, and this bill seeks to do that and just require WAPA to do what it has to do to get this moving. It's not going to happen overnight, but we need movement. I spoke already about the Ivani-Dior Ken High School track and feel, and the importance of this track. I'll tell you that back in 2010-ish, there was a lot of energy around this track, and the government spent significant dollars around getting this track ready, and it's been underused, millions of dollars. I want to say it was between three to five million dollars back at that time, if not more. So So this is a good time for us to really revitalize our track and use it for its intended purpose. It was built as a world-class competition track, and we need to utilize it for that purpose. We have the hotels here, and we just need to get the infrastructure of the track going so we could really have competitions at Kent School, and of course for the students there 2:05:45 to use. And then we did have a committee meeting a few weeks ago, last week I want to believe, with the Department of Human Services, and they shared with us the challenges that they're having with providing meals to our elderly. And I'm going to just end by saying this, when there's a community that do not take care of its elders, it speaks volumes about its leaders. So once we became knowledgeable of that information, we immediately rallied together to ensure that we are able to provide the necessary funding so those elderly in our community who are not currently receiving those meals, who desperately need those meals, will get the funding. 2:08:35 So Mr. President, thank you for the time, and I will vote accordingly at the appropriate time. Thank you. Thank you very much, Senator Frank Gregory and Senator Milton E. Potter, you're recognized for your four minutes. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. President, colleagues, I rise in support of all of the bills in block three of this evening's agenda, beginning with bill number 35-0229 and honoring and commending the eighth elected governor of the Virgin Islands, the Honorable Kenneth Ezra Mapp, for his years of service to the people of the Virgin Islands. I had the honor and privilege to serve in Governor Mapp's cabinet as the director of the Division of Personnel. Governor Mapp really gave his all in service to this territory. 2:09:21 His mind was sharp. He had a drive and determination that was second to none, but he had a passion and a love for this territory that cannot be questioned. Was Governor Ma perfect? No. Is anyone in this room aware of any human being who is perfect? No. But what is powerful and what is important is that this gentleman made sacrifices. He grinded the midnight oil to ensure that this territory, when we were at our lowest, he was at his best. So without question, I'm honored to have signed on to this initiative and I absolutely support it. We as a community need to begin to foster a culture of appreciation for our leaders who give their service irrespective of what side of the aisle there on. I'm in support of bill number 35-0311. I had the privilege of attending the summit at the Wyndham Frenchman's Reef Hotel the other day and Secretary Granholm was there and and her team, secretary of energy. A good senator on my left preempted me with that, with this legislation, but she was gracious enough to accept some information and support that we added to the legislation. What surprised me at that meeting was when the secretary said, 2:10:18 Somebody asked, Madam Secretary, would you be willing to assist the Water and Power Authority? And was it you, Mr. President? Mr. President. And to my astonishment, the Secretary said, Of course, if you request support and technical assistance today, we will be there tomorrow. I was stunned that our water and power authority had never officially as much strife and stress and challenges that we have with this authority. That should have been the first step that we took. So I applaud the good senator for having the wisdom to beat me, to pre-empt me with that initiative. 2:12:20 I also support the bill, bill number 35.0312 as an alumni of the Ivana-Eudora-Kenn High School. I also worked with the good senator to develop this initiative to provide a badly needed overhaul of the Ivana-Eudora-Kenn school track and to 2:13:17 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) 15 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II improve the bleachers so that we next year can host two major track and field events, and once the first two are successful, the future is limitless. Mr. President, thank you very much for the time. Thank you very much, Senator Potter. Next, we'll hear from Senator Maurice C. James Esquire. You're recognized for your four minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, rise in support of all the measures in this block. I'll begin with the first one by saying, too, as my colleagues have said, no one is perfect, and there will always be people who are our friends and people who are our enemies. That's just how it is. community though is really too small for us to have the sometimes venom that we see expressed within our community. And a lot of it is really centered around politics, which is unfortunate because there will always be a winner and a loser. But when we come to a community where we see that we don't even have the human resources to provide services to our people, it's clear that over the years we've alienated people and they've left because of politics. And so we have to now, going forward, try to change the tone and really try to bring harmony, especially with what's going on in the United States of America, where they're being torn apart by politics. 2:13:59 I must say that in this group of bills, we've done an excellent job of addressing the needs of our young and our old. And that's important, as well as seeing that there are agencies within our government that need support. And as my colleagues, my two colleagues before me said, there are times when you have to ask and then you will receive. And if you don't ask, you don't know what's available. It's, I was, I was very pleased to join in requesting assistance from the Department of Energy for the Virgin Islands, Wapan Pawah Tarithi, because clearly this is a time for us to make sure that we get all the help we need, no matter where it comes from, especially at this time. The mills and wheels, again, I'm glad that my colleagues, I was not present when the Department of Human Services spoke about the need that they have, but my colleagues responded by seeing that there's a need that we as senators must address immediately. 2:15:42 And so I was happy to join with my colleagues on getting that appropriation and funding for the department of human services of course i will always um always because i was an athlete and i know that athletics provided me with scholarships and the ability to become who i am i'll always support measures for example the maintenance of the ivana udara ken high school track because that can actually lead to scholarships the same thing with the little league West and St. Croix and Alvin McBean, Little League and St. Thomas. We have to support our young people. Girls softball of course. And again on St. Croix we sometimes drive down the roads that look as if we're on a one lane when in fact it's a two lane. So it's important that we start to cut the grass on the bush on the island of St. Croix. So tonight I join my colleagues in saying that we do need to pass every single one of these measures and improve the quality of life for the people in the Virgin Islands. Thank you, Mr. President. 2:17:03 Thank you very much, Senator Maurice James. Next, we'll recognize Senator Ray Fonseca. You'll recognize for your four minutes. Yes, thank you so kindly, Mr. President. I to rise in support of all of the bills in Block 3, Bill No. 35-0229. You know, this act bestows the Medal of Honor on the former governor, Kenneth Mapp. 2:18:18 Also renames Route 75 on St. Croix to the Governor Kenneth Mapp Highway, that's a good bill. Bill 35-0269, this act here imposes penalties for committing perjury in proceedings before the legislature. You know, in this chambers here, we receive testimony And we need you to give us the truth. And if you don't give us the truth, we're not able to make the best decisions. And sometimes it's like, you know, you have to pry it out of the testifiers. And sometimes they just don't give you the honest information. And I found that to be the problem with WAPA. That's part of the problem, reason why WAPA is in the problems they are. They haven't given the senators truthful information so we can be able to help them because we're the one that controls the purse strings. Bill 35-0240, this is another good bill. It transfers the administration of the government insurance fund from the Commission of Finance to the Virgin Islands Department of Labor. This can help improve the process with work injuries, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Also, Bill No. 35-0262 reallocates $1,434,950 from the Community Facilities Trust Fund to the Virgin Islands Port Authority for the pre-construction. Point of order, Mr. President. 2:18:55 Yes, point of order. Okay. Thank you, thank you, Mr. President. This bill transfers $1,434,950 from the Community Facilities Trust Fund to the Port Authority for pre-construction and soft cost funding for the Charlotte Amali Harbor dredging. You know, we got them big ships, they are able to come in down in Crown Bay, But here at Waiko Dock, I think they need to have a minimum of 40-foot clearance, and in some areas, it's only 36 feet of clearance. One minute. 2:20:53 Bill No. 35-0312, this is transferring money, providing appropriation from the School Maintenance Construction Fund to resurface, exerted the surface at the Eudorokin. I'm also an alumni of Eudorokin. Also Bill 35-0310 appropriating $250,000 from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority for the electrical services of Bugsby Hole. They've been out of power on and off for a long time. 2:21:30 We need to fix that, and we need to fix it. This here will go a long way. Also, Bill 350313, appropriating $100,000 to the Medicaid, the Meals and Wheels program. You know, those elderly residents, they depend on these meals and wheels. 2:22:12 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) 16 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Some of them, that's the only hot meal they get in the day. And, of course, I'll end on the act, appropriating $1 million from the St. Croix Capital Improvement. Funds to the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works for emergency grass and bush cutting on the island of St. Croix. Mr. President, I stand in support of all of these bills in Block 3. Thank you for the time. Thank you very much, Mr. Senator Fonseca. Next, we will hear from Senator Diane T. K. Part. You recognize for your four minutes. Mr. President, it's been a long night. Temperature's raising, yeah. And I just have to say that I'm in support of bill number 350229. This bill came in my committee, and I have to say when recognition is due, give it to them. Governor Kenneth Mapp has paved his way in the Virgin Islands, and I have to commend Senator Franklin Johnson for bringing this in the Committee of Rules and Judiciary to vet this bill. And it passed out to the committee favourably to now be voted on. 2:22:54 I shall be voting favourably for that. 350240, it went through committee of jurisdiction. I will be supporting that. Mr. President, there are all of the bills in this block I am in support of, from economic development, to helping our youths, to helping our elderly. Now I'm still waiting for the amendment for 350313. This was a bill that was for Medicaid and meals and reels recipient, finding out that $75,000 has already been on the books for Medicaid for the individuals, the recipients who cannot receive services in the Virgin Islands have to travel to the United States to get further treatment and then have, then have the funding for that. 2:23:59 Now, that is now going to be just an act appropriating $100,000 for the the Department of Human Services, for the Meals and Wheels, because there's an urgency for these individuals to get assistance. I'm in support. Mr. President, I'm ready to vote. Thank you. Thank you very much, Senator Capehart. Next, we'll hear from the Majority Leader, Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. You're recognized for your four minutes. 2:25:11 Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President and colleagues, I rise in support of most, if not all, of the measures before us, but I can't speak on everyone, so let me use the time wisely. With regards to 0229 for the Honourable Kenneth E. Mapp, I applaud. I'm pleased to join my colleagues in applauding him and honouring him and commending him as the eighth elected governor of these Virgin Islands who demonstrated extraordinary leadership and decisive management skills during his term and during the Twin Hurricanes because of his many hats that he worn, including police officer, union leader, senator, director, lieutenant governor, etc., he was able to skillfully and successfully coordinate the disaster response efforts in the USVI during the hurricanes and ensure the safety and well-being of all of us and bringing the most federal funding we've ever seen in one term. With regards to Bill 35-0310, the emergency restoration for electrical power to the residents of the Bugbee Hole Gut Spring Garden area. I want to thank all my colleagues this evening for signing on here. These residents have been without power since June 26th. To tonight, have no power. There is underground infrastructure there that was put in place that's been deteriorated 2:25:49 over the years and we know that WAPA had in their 2017 restoration plan to move to the the underground project. So we're asking that WAPA be able to greatly assist the residents in this area and appropriate the $250,000 needed immediately to assist these residents. The dire situation affects the residents with some with underlying medical conditions such as sleeping with CPAP machines, medications that need to be refrigerated, et cetera. 2:28:02 And for the last three weeks, going into four weeks, some can afford generators, so they have to be on generator. With regards to 0269, you know, sometimes when we come here again, we must learn to communicate and be able to coordinate with each other rather than looking for conflict all the time. The bill specifically speaks to perjury before the legislature. It actually amends Title II of the Virgin Islands Code that speaks to obstruction of legislative proceedings specifically. 2:28:50 And what it seeks to do is anyone found in violation of perjuring themselves before the legislature will be held personally liable to the tune where they will be fined $500 or in prison not more than 30 days. And if I may conclude, Mr. President, subsequent violations, the fines and sentence will increase to no less than $1,000 and no more than $5,000 or imprisoned no more than 60 days. Again, that is for the obstruction of legislative proceedings specifically. And in closing, I want to ask your support on the election revisions that we discussed back in May in the Committee of the Whole that speaks to felonies, persons convicted of felonious crimes that don't have a pardon. 2:29:32 restricting them from the ballot casting of lots we all know that we go before the Board of Elections all at the same time for nominations and casting of lots should just be one time also it will increase there's a measure to increase the amounts given for contributions and the nomination packages to be able to be submitted to the election systems via electronic means again we discussed this in the May 13th committee of the whole and these measures were discussed with not only the election system supervisor but also the members of the board so I ask for your support and these measures and the amendments as they are offered thank you mr president uh thank you very much senator gettins at this time we recognize the senate vice president senator marvin blighton you recognize for your four minutes thank you mr president i write in 2:30:41 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) 17 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II support of all of the bills in this block i will speak to some of them bill number three five that's zero two two nine an act honoring and commending the eighth elected governor of the virgin islands kenneth s your map for his year the service to the people of the the Virgin Islands. Governor Mapp did a lot for the people. As I stated in the Rules Committee, I remember when we went to Washington, D.C., and assisted and advocated to all of the Congress people and senators in respect to funding for our small territory, whereas we were able gain some $9 billion for the territory. In respect to bill number 35.0240, whereas streamlining processes when it comes to workers' compensation, in particular the workers' compensation insurance program, bill number 35.0311, which ensures that the Water and Power authority seeks technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy to help us with our rules in respect to our energy crisis. We are now at 35.0321 that in particularly these were the I-Van Indowaken track and field facilities. We know right now we are having the Olympics in Paris and every four years Olympic comes around and we never know what can come about in respect to our athletes being able to utilize that track and training and also when it comes to sports, tourism and territory, it will take us far away. Bill number 35.0301 which speaks to the cost of forensic medical exams whether individuals have insurance or not, especially those individuals who are victims of rape and unlawful sexual contact. It's a very important piece of legislation bill number three five zero three one three i know when the department came in front of us last week it was brought to our attention that some 97 individuals seniors of the matter of fact was on a waiting list for meals from the meals and wheels program and there is no way on god's earth we should have any of our seniors or anyone in the virginal basically be not having availability to have a meal on a daily basis and this is a very important piece of legislation. We did our vetting and we did what we had to do to come up with the funding to assure that these individuals get a hot meal every single day because they have paved the way for us. And bill number 35.0314, that we programs $100,000, $50,000 per district for girls softball in the St. Templeton, I think, Croy district. Girls softball is right now the number one leading sports in the Virgin Islands. And there's some nine teams, 135 girls that's playing softball right now in our territory. and there's five to seven girls that's playing in the Little League. 2:32:38 So we're looking out for the little girls in the territory when it comes to softball and baseball. And I stand in support of all of these bills in this block. Thank you so much, Mr. President, for the time. Thank you very much, Senator Blyden. If the timekeeper could put four minutes on the clock for me. I certainly stand in support of most, if not all, of the measures of this particular block. And, of course, the honoring and commending and naming of the roadway. after Governor, former Governor Kenneth Mapp is something that I certainly endorse. Experience matters, his 40-plus years of service as a police officer, Senator, Commissioner, Lieutenant Governor and Governor was pivotal in that time that we needed him in terms of those two hurricanes, two Cat 5 hurricane the right time for him to be in place and certainly he did what was necessary. I know that we spoke about Washington and many times we have also gone to Washington as a Senate body to certainly to support the efforts that was being made by the government at the time to make sure that the Virgin Islands were receiving what is due to them and the Stafford Act that was put in place and the changes that was made was significant in getting us to where we at today in terms of the billions of dollars that's available for us uh, to recover from these storms. Uh, certainly, uh, bill number 35.0269, um, which speaks to the perjury of individuals that come before the legislature, while they may have been similar, the legislation that has been, um, offered and, um, been enacted, I, I think that certainly having one that's, um, in place for the legislature is, is something that complements whatever was 2:35:08 done before, and certainly, you know, hold individuals accountable when they come before the legislature, and I'll be supporting that measure. In respect to the U.S. Department of Energy providing technical assistance, I think it burns well for us. You know, that was the question that was posed to the Energy Secretary when she came before us, you know, what could be done to support and assist us in that endeavor, and, you know, She pledged her full support and got an opportunity to see firsthand some of the challenges that we were experiencing in that regard. In addition to that, we also had an opportunity to visit the Port Hamilton site the following day and look at the availability of support as well that could be offered to WAPA during these dire times of need and so that certainly Port Hamilton could continue to support our our efforts for providing additional energy as well as to alternative energy that will be required. The issue of the $250,000 to this inquiry capital improvement fund, that is something that I also joined on to, you know, we can't have where these residents were impacted by not having power for, you know, weeks on end, you know, while we were having this need for additional upgrades to the electrical system that wasn't available at the time. And that was a cost that was attempted to be passed on to the residents there. I think that that's unfair. We have a responsibility to make sure that we are funding and providing adequate infrastructure in that area. 2:36:57 The one hundred thousand dollars for the Department of Human Services for Meals and Wheels is I was pretty much surprised. I even got a little bit emotional by the fact of the revelation that we have You know, 77 individuals on St. Croix, 20 people here in St. Thomas, where they were on a waiting list to receive a meal. You know, it's unfortunate. And we definitely had to close the loop on that particular issue. There's also a measure here that's being offered for $1 million 2:38:36 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund for the purpose of grass cutting. on St. Croix. I also have an amendment in addition to that to provide for some road repairs as well as to purchase a side arm cutter for the Department of Public Works so that they could have that in their efforts to address the issue of, you know, the grass and bushes that's growing on the side of our roads and being able to address that situation. And And of course, the money that was required for the harbor dredging, the soft costs of $1,434,950, this is also on this block for us to be able to give port authority that they could be able to complete the work of the dredging there. And of course, we heard just today that the Army Corps of Engineers have approved the permit to allow that work to continue. this cost is definitely required right now so that we could get that taken care of, that it could continue to boost our competitive edge in terms of our tourism industry. At this time, all of the debate time has expired on the block number three, and I'll call up and ask the Madam Clerk to please call up the bills individually for us to take a vote on. Bill number 35.0229, an act honoring and commending the eighth elected Governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth Ezra Mapp, for his years of service to the people of the Virgin Islands and naming Route 75 on the island of St. Croix from Basin Triangle intersection at Route 70, Estate Richmond, and ending at Krause Lagoon, the Governor Kenneth E. Mapp Highway, appropriating $45,000 from the General Fund of the Treasury of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the Department of Public Works to implement the mandates of this act to bestow the Virgin Islands Medal of Honor on Kenneth Ezra Mapp and for other related purposes. 2:40:00 Roll call on Bill 35.0229. Yes! Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. Senator Johnson? Yes. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Yes. Senator Joseph? Absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter? Yes. Senator Potter? Yes. Mr. President? Fourteen yays, one absent. 2:41:11 Thank you very much Madam Clerk, Bill 35-0229, an act honouring and commending the 8th elected Governor of the Versace, Kenneth Edra Mop, for his years of service to the people of the Versace and naming Route 75 on the island of St. Croix from the Basin, a triangle intersection at Route 70, Estate Richmond, and ending at Crouse Lagoon, the Governor-Kennett E-Map Highway appropriating $45,000 from the General Fund of the Treasury of the Virgin Islands, government of the Virgin Islands to the Department of Public Works to implement the mandates of this act and to bestow the Virgin Islands Medal of Honor and Kennett Ezra-Map and for other related purposes that have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item Madam Clerk. 2:42:29 Bill number 35.0240, an act transferring the administration of the Government Insurance Fund from the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Finance to the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor and amending various sections of Title 24, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 11, to facilitate better recovery for injury or disease that arises out of and in the course of employment in the Virgin Islands under the Workers' Compensation Administration and to ensure that workers entitled to workers' compensation benefits receive medical, rehabilitation services, and disability compensation without undue delay by merging the benefits and payment components of the Workers' Compensation Insurance Program. 2:43:24 one second but I'm clerk the one that oh yeah which one is oh I'm sorry yeah so roll call on bill number 35 that's zero two four zero I'm sorry I said down the wrong number I went forward so it's actually bill number 35 does zero two My apologies. Senator Marvin A. Blyton? 2:44:42 Senator Blyton? Senator Anyel L. Bocas Jr. Senator Diane T. Capehart? Senator Capehart? Senator Samuel Carrion? Senator Carrion? Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff? Senator DeGraff? Senator Ray Fonseca? Yes. senator james senior yay senator franklin d johnson yes senator johnson yay senator carla j joseph senator joseph absent senator milton e potter senator potter yay mr president 14 yays one absent uh thank you very much madam clerk bill number 35.0240 an act transferring the administration of the government insurance fund from the commission of the virginal department of Finance to the Commission of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor and amending various sections of Title 24 Virgin Islands Code chapter 11 to facilitate better recovery for injuries or disease that arises out of and in the course of employment in the Virgin Islands and the workers compensation administration and to ensure that workers entitled to workers compensation benefits receive medical rehabilitation services and disability compensation without and due delay by merging the benefits and payment components of the workers compensation insurance has been approved by the members of the 35th legislature of the virgin islands and will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action uh next item madam clerk bill number 2:45:17 Bill number 35.0269 an act amending Title II Virgin Islands Code Chapter 1 by adding a Section 10 providing a penalty for the commission of perjury in proceedings before the legislature of the Virgin Islands Roll call on Bill number 35.0269 Senator Marvin A. Blyden Senator Blyden Senator Daniel Bocas, Jr. Senator Bocas, Jr. Senator Dianne T. Capehart Senator Samuel Carillon, Senator Dwayne M. Degraff Senator Ray Fonseca, Senator Fonseca, Senator Ramos Senator 2:47:21 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Dwayne M. Degraff Senator Degraff, Senator Ramos Senator Fonseca, Senator Fonseca, yay. Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Yeah. Senator Francis Jr., yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. No. Senator Francis Heiliger, nay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. Yes. Senator Fred Gregory, yay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Yes. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James. Yes. Senator James, yay. Senator Javan E. James Sr. That's it. Senator James Sr., not voting. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. Senator Johnson, yay. 2:48:20 Senator Carla J. Joseph? Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 11 yays, 2 nays, 1 absent, 1 not voting. Please record Senator James Sr. vote as yes. Senator James Sr., yay. Mr. President, 12 yays, 2 nays, 1 absent. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. 2:48:54 Bill 35-0269, an Act Amending Title II, Virgin Analyst Code, Chapter 1, by adding a Section 10, providing a penalty for the commission of perjury in proceedings before the Legislative of Virgin Analyst have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature. I will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35.0311, an act to ensure that the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, WAPA, seeks technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and relevant federal government agencies to modernize its electrical grid and water system, improve reliability, enhance efficiency, and incorporate advanced technologies. 2:49:23 Roll call on Bill 35.0311. Yeah. Senator Funcek fact. Senator Funcek Seneca yay. Senator Novelli Francis Junior? 2:50:11 Yeah. Senator Francis Junior yay. Senator Alma Francis Hale. happen. Senator Francis Hale. Yay. Senator Donna A. fest Gregory. Senator Fred Gregory yay. Senator Niken L. Getins? Yes. Senator opinions yay. Senator Marie C. James Yes. Senator James, yay. Senator Javon E. James Sr. Senator James Sr., yay. Senator Franklin D. Johnson, Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph, Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter, Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 14 yays, one absent. 2:50:48 Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35.0311, an act to ensure the Virgin Islands water and power authority Seeks technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the relevant federal agencies to modernize this electrical grid and water system, improve reliability, enhance efficiency, and incorporate advanced technologies have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands. I will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. 2:51:29 Bill number 35.0312, an act providing an appropriation from the School Maintenance and Construction Fund to the Virgin Islands Department of Education for the resurfacing, repairs, restoration, construction, and maintenance of the Ivana E. Daurican High School track and field facilities. Roll call on bill number 35.0312. Senator Marvin A. Blyton. Marvin A. Blyton, I'm sorry. Senator Blyton, yay. Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr. Senator Bocas, Jr., yay. Senator Diane T. Capehart. 2:52:01 Senator Capehart, yay. Senator Samuel Carrion, yay. Senator Carrion, yay. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraph. Senator DeGraph, yay. Senator Ray Fonseca? Yeah. Senator Fonseca? Yeah. Senator Novelli Francis Jr.? Yeah. Senator Francis Jr. Yeah. Senator Alma Francis-Heileger? Yeah. 2:52:41 Senator Francis-Heileger? Yeah. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? Donna. Yes. Senator Fred Gregory? Yeah. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Senator Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins? Yeah. Senator Maurice C. James? Yes. Senator James, yay. Senator Javan E. James, Sr.? Not voting. Senator James, Sr., not voting. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? 2:53:07 Yes. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 13 yays, one absent, one not voting. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0312, an act providing an appropriation from the School Maintenance and Construction Fund to the Virgin Islands Department of Education for the resurfacing, repairs, restoration, construction, and the maintenance of the Ivana-Eudora-Kinn High School Track and Field Facilities have been approved by members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands, will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Madam Chair, Madam Clerk, please call up the next item, after which we'll take a break and for the change of the recorder. Next bill. 2:53:37 Bill number 35.0301, an act amending Title 34, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 8, Section 206A, by requiring the government of the Virgin Islands to bear the cost of forensic medical exams for victims of rape or unlawful sexual contact in any degree, regardless of whether the victim cooperates with law enforcement or has health insurance. Roll call on Bill No. 35, that's 0301. 2:54:31 Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Yeah. Senator Blyden, yeah. Senator Angel L. Bokesh, Jr. Yeah. Senator Bokesh, Jr., yeah. Senator Diane T. Capehart. Yeah. Senator Capehart, yeah. Senator Samuel Kadion! Senator Kadion! Senator Duane M. DeGraff! Senator DeGraff! Senator Ray Fonseca! Senator Fonseca! Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Senator Francis Jr. 2:55:02 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Senator Alma Francis Heiliger! Senator Francis Heiliger! Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. Senator Fred Gregory. Senator Fred Gregory, not voting. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Fred Gregory, yay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James. Senator James, yay. Senator Javan A. James, senior. Senator James, senior, yay. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph, Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter, Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 14 yays, one absent. 2:55:51 Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35-0301, an act amending Title 34, Virgin Analyst Code, Chapter 8, Section 206A, by requiring the government to the Virgin Analyst to bear the cost of forensic medical exams for victims of rape or unlawful sexual contact in any degree regardless of whether the victim cooperates with law enforcement or has health insurance have been approved by the members of the 35th legislature of the virgin islands i'll be sent to the governor for further consideration and action at this time we'll take a one minute recess for the change of the recorder and then we are nearing the end and we'll resume session stands and recess for one minute Thank you. 2:56:24 so do Thank you. Thank you. 2:57:58 Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. Thank you. 2:59:58 We'll be right back. Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ ¶¶ 3:01:57 ¶¶ Thank you. And we are out of recess. At this time, we are completing block number three. We have about four or five more items on this particular box, so I'd like to ask the Madam Clerk, please call up the next item on today's agenda. 3:03:44 Number 35-0310, an act appropriating the sum of $250,000 from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority for the emergency restoration of electrical services in the Bugbee Hole and Spring Garden slash Spring Gut areas on the island of St. Croix. Roll call on Bill Number 35-0310. Senator Marvin A. Blyden, Senator Blyden, Senator Angelo Bocas Jr., Senator Bocas Jr., Senator Diane T. Capehart, Senator Capehart, Senator Summer Cadillone, Senator Cadillone, Yeah. Senator Duane M. DeGraff. 3:04:51 Yes. Senator DeGraff, yes. Senator Ray Fonseca. Fonseca. Fonseca. Senator Fonseca. Yes. Senator Fonseca, yes. Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Yes. Senator Francis Jr., yes. Senator Alma Francis Heileger. Yes. Senator Francis Heileger, yes. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. Yes. Senator Fred Gregory, yes. Senator Kenneth L. Gettins. Yes. Senator Gettins. Yes. Senator Maurice C. James. Yes. Senator James. Yes. Senator Javan E. James Senior. Yes. Yes. Yes. Senator James Senior. Yes. 3:05:45 Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Yes. Senator Johnson. Yes. Senator Kala J. Joseph. Yes. Senator Joseph absent. Thank you. Senator Milton E. Potter. Yes. Senator Potter. Yes. Mr. President, 14 yeas, one absent. Thank you very much. Madam Clerk, Bill No. 35-0310, an act appropriating $250,000 from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority for the Emergency Restoration of Electrical Services in the Bugsby Hole, Spring Gardens, Spring Gut areas of the island of St. Croix has been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. 3:06:26 Next item, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35.0313, an act appropriating $100,000 to the Virgin Islands Department of Human Services to provide emergency funding for the Meals on Wheels program. Roll call on Bill number 35.0313. Senator Marvin A. Blighton. Yeah. Senator Blighton. Yeah. Senator Angel L. Bokes, Jr. Yeah. Senator Bokes, Jr. Yeah. Senator Diane T. Capehart. Yes. Senator Capehart. Yeah. Senator Samua Cadillon. Yes, Barton. Senator Cadillon. Yeah. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff. Yeah. Senator DeGraff. Yeah. Senator Ray Fonseca. 3:07:16 Yeah. Fonseca, yay. Senator Nouvelle Francis Jr. Yeah. Senator Francis Jr., yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. Senator Fred Gregory, yay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Yes. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James. Senator James, yay. Senator Javan E. James Senior? Senator James Senior, absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? Senator Potter, yay. 3:08:03 Mr. President, 13 yays, two absent. What's that tally again, please? 13 yays to absent. Thank you very much. Bill No. 35-0313, an act appropriating $100,000 to the Virgin Islands Department of Human Services to provide emergency funding for the Meals and Wheels Program have been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands and will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. 3:08:54 Bill number 35.0314, an act amending acts numbers 87, 59, and 86, 17, reprogramming $100,000, previously appropriated to the Elmore Plaskett Little League West on St. Croix and the Alvin McBean Little League on St. Thomas to the Virgin Islands Little League District, Girls Softball, St. Croix, and St. Thomas St. John. Roll call on Bill No. 35-0314. 3:09:25 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) 21 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Yay. Senator Ray Fonseca. Yay. Senator Fonseca. Yay. Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Yay. Senator Francis Jr. Yay. Senator Alma Francis Heilegger. Yes. Senator Francis Heilegger. Yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. Yes. Senator Fred Gregory. Yay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Yes. Senator Gittins. Yay. Senator Maurice C. James. Yes. Senator James. Yes. Senator Javan E. James Sr. 3:10:20 Yes. Senator James Sr. Absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Yes. Senator Johnson. Yes. Senator Carla J. Joseph. Yes. Senator Joseph. Absent. Senator Milton E. Potter. Yes. Senator Potter. Yes. Mr. President, 13 yays, 2 absent. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill No. 35-0314 and amended Acts No. 87, 59 and 86, 17, reprogramming $100,000 previously appropriated to the Elmo Plaskett Little League West on St. Croix and the Alvin McBean Little League on St. Thomas II, the Virgin Islands Little League District Girl Scout Softball St. Croix and St. Thomas St. John has been approved by the members of the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the Governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. 3:10:52 Bill number 35.0305, an act appropriating the sum of $1 million from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works for emergency grass and bush cutting on the island of St. Croix. There's an amendment on that? Santa James? Non-Germaine? Okay. Okay. Roll call on bill number 35-0305. Senator Fonseca? Yay. 3:11:47 Senator Novelli Francis Jr.? Yay. Senator Francis Jr.? Yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger? Yeah. Senator Francis Heiliger? Yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? Yeah. Senator Fred Gregory? Yay. Senator Kenna L. Gittins? Yeah. Senator Gittins? Yay. Senator Maurice C. James? Yes. Senator James? Yay. Senator Javan E. James Sr.? Senator James Senior, absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph. Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter. Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, 13 yays, two absent. 3:12:43 Thank you very much. Bill number 35, that's 0305, an act appropriating the sum of $1 million from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virginia Department of Public Works for emergency grass and bush cutting on the island of St. Croix have been approved by the members of the 35th legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the governor for further consideration and action. Next item, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35.0262, an act appropriating $1,434,950 in fiscal year 2024 from the Community Facilities Trust Fund for the pre-construction soft-cost funding to prepare the Charlotte Amali Harbor for dredging. Amendments? 3:13:27 Senator Fred Gregory, recognize the amendment. Mr. President, I move to amend bill number 35-833 to bill number 35-0262. Bill number 35-0262 is amended by adding an appropriately numbered section that reads as follows section blank a notwithstanding the use restrictions set forth in 33 vic section 3072c the sum of 15 000 is appropriated in the fiscal year ending september 30th 2024 from the tourism advertising revolving fund to the virginance department of sports parks and and Recreation to be used as a grant to the Hellenite Sports Club, a local nonprofit organization to provide lodging, food, and transportation due to being unavoidably delayed returning to the Virgin Islands because of the crowd strike computer glitch that has affected airline travel in the United States. B, the Hellenite Sports Club is subject to and must comply with the reporting requirements of Title II, Virgin Islands Code, Section 29. I so move. 3:14:18 Second. Motion properly made by Senator Fred Gregory, seconded by Senator Blyden. Hearing no objections, so ordered. Amendment, Senator Blyden? Amendment, Senator Blyden? Thank you, Mr. President. I move amendment number 35.79, treaty bill number 35.0262. Bill number 35.0262 is amended by adding an appropriately numbered section as follows. Section blank, the among appropriating in Act number 8759, section one, C slash CNTR, miscellaneous organizations to DHS continuum of care, 185,000 remains available until expended. I so move. Motion properly made by Senator Blyden, seconded by Senator Potter, Senator DeGraf. Hearing no objections, to order amendment center the graph you recognize your amendment uh thank you mr president i move amendment number 35-0822 to bill number 35-0262 bill number 35-0262 is amended and by an appropriating number section that reads as follows section blank Title III, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 1, Section 8B is amended by striking a language in subsections A and B and inserting new language to read. A. The government of the Virgin Islands shall pay a funeral home or mortuary business that prepares the body of a veteran to the United States Armed Forces of the United States Armed Forces for burial, internment, or render other services connected with the death. $5,000 upon the funeral home or mortuary business submittal of a certified copy of the death certificate and an invoice for services performed to the Office of Veterans Affairs. B, the Director of Office of Veterans Affairs shall develop procedures for the implementation of the direct payment to the mortuary business or funeral home. I so move. Motion probably made by Senator DeGraff, seconded by Senator Blyden, Senator Potter, Senator Gittins, Johnson, hearing no objections, so ordered. 3:15:47 Motion. Motion. Senator Gittins, do you recognize your motion? Thank you, Mr. President and colleagues, I rise to offer Amendment No. 35-689, an amendment to Bill No. 35-0262 offered by yous truly. Number 35, that's 0262, is amended by adding a new appropriately numbered section to read section blank, Title 18, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 13, Section 3:18:08 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II 263, is amended by adding subsection D to read, open quote, D, no person shall be eligible for any public office who has been convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude and has not received a pardon restoring all the rights of citizenship enjoyed by him before conviction close quote i so move motion properly made by senator get in seconded by senator de graaf objected to by senator bolquez and senator fred gregory two minute debate time I yield to hear the objection. How much time remain for Senator Gittins? One minute, 58 seconds. Senator Belkaz, you recognize? Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Title 18, VIC, Section 6, amendments during an election year. It is stated that amendments cannot be made to Title 18. no amendments to this title shall be enacted by the legislature in the period of six months immediately preceding the date of a general election except in compliance with the order issued by a court or competent jurisdiction. I yield the balance of my time. How much time remain for Senator Bulkers? 3:19:32 One minute, 30 seconds. Senator Gittins, you recognize you have one minute, 58 seconds. The at-large senator is absolutely correct, and I neglected to state that these amendments does not take effect until the following election year 2026 i reserve the balance of my time how much time remain for senator gittins one minute 45 seconds all right so the bocas you have one minute 30 seconds i yield the balance of my time to senator donna fred gregory senator fred gregory you recognize you have one minute 30 seconds thank you mr president there is no definition of moral turpitude in the Virgin Islands Code. I yield the balance of my time. 3:20:11 I reserve the balance of my time. How much time remain for Senator Gregory? One minute, 15 seconds. Senator Gittins, you recognize you have one minute, 45 seconds? I am not sure why the good senator will say that, but maybe she did say that because she was not in the legislature when we passed that legislation defining a crime of moral turpitude. I reserve the balance of my time. How much I remain for Senator Gittens? One minute, 30 seconds. Senator Frager, you recognize you have one minute, 15 seconds. And further, all felonies are not created equal. A young man or young woman could find themselves in a situation where there's a felony when they're very young and they've served their time and did their due and should be still given an opportunity to run for office because our correctional system the purpose of it is to prevent recidivism and for turnaround areas of the balance. How much time remain for Senator Fred Gregory? 50 seconds. Senator Gittens you recognize you have a minute and 30 seconds. Again the person will have the opportunity to get a pardon and it's specifically said who have not been pardoned is ineligible to run for public office. I concur with the request of the Board of Elections as we seek to get some trust and integrity back into this system. 3:20:57 Trust and integrity is already an issue and public office certainly requires a high level of trust from our electorate. A felony conviction certainly undermines the public's confidence and I'm saying that public perception as well and moral is also a concern. Therefore, allowing a person convicted of a felony will send a wrong message to the public about consequences of criminal behaviour and the standards set and expected for public office. That's why we're now seeking to get our ethics and conflict of interest bill in order. And from an ethical and legal perspective, a felony conviction suggests a significant breach of these standards, which could also compromise their ability to fulfill their duties and responsibilities. I reserve the balance of my time. 3:22:20 How much time remain for Senator Gittins? 15 seconds. Senator Fragrego, you recognize? You've got 50 seconds. I still contend that all felonies are not created equal, but I will say that pardons are issued by a governor and you can get political favor um in cases of a pardon so i reserve the balance of my time more time remain for senator fred gregory 30 seconds so the goodness you recognize you got 15 seconds thank you uh mr president and colleagues i hold uh hard to this that I will be moving this amendment forward again as we restore integrity and trust to this government and the public perception of morale again is definitely a concern. Thank you. The time has expired Senator. Senator McGregor you recognize you got 30 seconds. 3:23:13 I don't know that this is about public perception but this is about truth and reality. None of us in this room are perfect and there's anything could happen to any of us as it relates to a felony and again as it relates to the pardon a governor of this virgin islands can grant favor to a friend or a family member of a friend so i reserve the balance of my time time all time have expired on on this, roll call. Senator Marvin A. Blyden? 3:24:11 Senator Blyden, not voting. Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr.? Senator Bocas, Jr., nay. Senator Diane T. Capehart? Senator Capehart, yay. Senator Samuel Carrion? Senator Carrion, not voting. Senator Carrion, yay. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff? Senator DeGraff? Senator DeGraff? Yay. Senator Ray Fonseca? Senator Fonseca not voting. Senator Novelli Francis Jr? Yay. Senator Francis Jr? Yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger? Yes. Senator Francis Heiliger? 3:24:52 Yay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? No. Senator Fred Gregory? Nay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins? Yay. Senator Maurice C. James? Senator James? No. Senator James, nay. Senator Javan E. James, senior. Senator James, senior, absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Collar J. Joseph, Senator 3:25:31 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? No. Senator Potter, nay. Mr. President, seven yays, four nays, two absent, two not voting. What's that tally again, please? Seven yeas, four nays, two absent, two not voting. The measure pass. Amendment. Amendment, Senator Gittens. Thank you, Mr. President. 3:26:04 Mr. President and colleagues, I move to offer Amendment No. 35-690, an amendment to Bill No. 35-0262 offered by yours truly. Bill No. 35-0262 is amended by adding an appropriately numbered section that reads Section Blank, Title 18, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 17, Subsection 3, Section 410 is amended as follows a in subsection a one inserting open quote in person or electronically close quote at the beginning of the paragraph and b in subsection c by striking open quote the primary close quote and inserting open quote and close quote I so move motion probably made by Senator Gittens a seconded by Senator blyton objected to by Senator Bolquez, Senator Francis Heidegger. So yeah, he did say it for us. Two minute debate time. Senator Gittins, you recognize? I'd like to hear from the opponent. I reserve the balance of my time. How much time remain for Senator Gittins? One minute, 58 seconds. One minute, 58 seconds. Senator Bolquez, you recognize you got two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, it is not that I am against any of these, but I would like to go through the chair to legal counsel for their interpretation of Title 18, Section 6. Legal counsel, you may respond to the chair. 3:26:33 You need a question? Please repeat. Thank you, Mr. President. I would like legal counsel to let us know what their interpretation is of Title 18, Section 6. I hold the balance of my time. Through the Chair to Senator Volkes, any amendment to Title 18 that is passed will not be effective this year. You can pass them, you cannot pass them, but they won't take effect this year. 3:28:28 It states no amendments to this title shall be enacted by the legislature in the period of six months immediately preceding the date of a general election except in compliance with an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. I reserve the balance of my time. So what are you asking for her to do? 3:29:07 She already gave her opinion based on it. You're asking her to reconsider? You're asking her to... What is you asking for at this time? What does enacted mean? You may respond, legal counsel. Enacted means passed through the legislature and signed by the governor, but through the chair, but a majority of this body can choose to pass these laws. They just won't become effective. Maybe that's what I should have said at the start. Does that, through the chair to the legal counsel, does that require notwithstanding clause? I reserve the balance of my time. 3:29:43 It does not, through the Chair. I'm sorry. Any further questions, Senator Bulkas? Through the Chair, do you need further clarification? Yes, please. Bodies, legislative bodies can pass on constitutional laws. Those laws should not be passed, but they're passed anyway. So that would be this instance, but it would only take... Well, they won't be considered unconstitutional until they're challenged and determined, deemed to be unconstitutional. 3:30:26 Well, we can also, through the chair, legal counsel can also advise you that something is unconstitutional and you still pass it. May be considered unconstitutional. Right. Through the chair, to legal counsel, can you tell us if, based on the current law, if this is now unconstitutional for us to do right now? I reserve the balance. unlawful I apologize I reserve the balance of my time um it's against the revised organic act to pass it but like I said a majority of this body can pass laws very well I I yield and I know how I'll be voting for the rest of the measures thank you thank you are you reserving the rest of the time returning the rest of the time You're reserving? You're reserving? 3:30:59 How much time remain for Senator Bulkas? 30 seconds. 30 seconds. Dr. Gittins, you recognize? Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President and colleagues, again, none of these election revision amendments will take effect until 2026. And I did say that before, that I neglected to originally state that, but none of these measures will be enacted until 2026. I resolve the balance of my time. 3:31:53 How much time remain for Senator Gittins? One minute, 25 seconds. Senator Bolquez, you recognize, you've got 30 seconds. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I don't see that date on any of the amendments before us. I reserve the balance of my time. How much time remain for Senator Bulkas? 25 seconds. Senator Gittens, you recognize you have a minute and 25 seconds. Thank you, Mr. President. You know, sometimes I wonder what we really be doing. 3:32:31 Because these measures were discussed again back May 13th, a couple months ago. And there was no concern of this after the Board of Elections and the election system sat before us and indicate that these measures will not take effect until the next election cycle. And here it is tonight, we're acting or some are acting like I never heard that before. But I am saying that the measures will not take effect until election 2026. 3:33:06 Legislative intent. I reserve the balance of my time. How much time remain for Senator Gittens? 35 seconds. Senator Bulkers, you recognize, you've got 25 seconds. Thank you, Mr. President. I believe the most prudent thing to do is amend Title 18, Section 6, so that we can be able to make proper amendments to the code in due time even within an election 3:33:44 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II year i reserve the balance of my time how much time remain for senator bolquez 10 seconds so get things you recognize you got 35 seconds you know i always say you know with progress comes change and some of these the the opponent sat right in our board of elections and know that these amendments are needed nothing was done this legislative body is now acting upon titlating which we're doing and if it takes effect time in two years then so be it we're acting on it now to clear up the election code. Thank you Mr. President. Thank you. Your time has expired. Senator Bulkers you got 10 seconds. Thank you Mr. Chair. I still am not convinced and I cannot support the measures because of Title 18, Section 6. Time. Thank you Mr. President. Thank you very much. Time expired. Roll call and the amendment. Senator Marvin A. Blyden? Yeah. Senator Blyden? Yeah. Senator Ángel L. Bulques, Jr.? Yeah. Senator Bulques, Jr.? Yeah. Senator Diane T. Capehart? No. No. Senator Capehart? No. Senator Samuel Carrion? No. Senator Carrion? No. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff? Yes. Senator DeGraff? Yeah. 3:35:25 Senator Ray Fonseca? Vanceca. Senator Fonseca, not voting. Senator Nouvelle Francis Junior. Yeah. Senator Francis Junior, yeah. Senator Alma Frances Heiliger. No. Senator Francis Heiliger? Yeah, nay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. No. Senator Fred Gregory, nay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice E. James. No. Senator James, nay. Senator Giovanni James Sr. Senator James Senior, absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? No. Senator Johnson, nay. Senator Carla J. Joseph? 3:35:52 Senator Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? No. Senator Potter, nay. Mr. President, four yeas, seven nays, two absent, two not voting. Measure fails. Motion, Senator Gittins, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President and colleagues, I move that Bill, that Amendment No. 35.0, correction, 35-696, an amendment to Bill No. 35.0262, offered by U.S. Truly, Bill No. 35.0262 is amended by adding an appropriately numbered section as follows, Section Blank, Title 18, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 29, is amended in the following instances. A, Section 902, Paragraph 2, is amended by striking $1,000 and inserting $3,500. And B, Section 907, is amended by striking $1,000, wherever it appears, and inserting $3,500. I so move. 3:36:32 Motion properly made by Senator Gittins Seconded by No seconds Somebody second Second by Senator Fonseca Objected to by Senator Alma-Francis Heiliger You have two minutes debate time Senator Gittins, you have two minutes I'll listen to the opponent. How much time remain for Senator Gittins? Well, there's two things I want to... 3:37:43 One second, Senator. Sorry. How much time remain for Senator Gittins? One minute, 58 seconds. Very well. Senator Frances, I think you recognize you got two minutes. Thank you. One thing I would like to make note of, the first thing has to do with the unlawfulness of these amendments. Our legal counsel clearly stated on this floor earlier that the fact that we're attempting to amend this title is unlawful. And it would be so simple to bring these things in November after the election and it would have no problems. In addition, what type of research was done to justify moving from 1,000 to 3,500? Because that's the only thing I would like to be shared because I was not privy to any previous conversation as it relates to this particular piece of amendment. I reserve the balance of my time. 3:38:19 How much time remain for Senator Frances Heidegger? One minute, 15 seconds. Senator Gittins, you recognise you got one minute, 58 seconds. When this matter was discussed, I was at home in my living room doing this by Zoom. We were right here when the Board of Elections and the election system came here and requested these. These aren't my amendments that I am bringing on my behalf. Additionally, what's the difference in bringing them in November after the election? Everybody have already filed their petition papers already. 3:39:07 There's no filing of petition papers now. So we know for sure that this doesn't take effect until 2026 election cycle. I reserve the balance of my time. How much time remain for Senator Gittens? One minute, 15 seconds. Senator Frances Heidegger, you recognize you have one minute, 15 seconds. I would like to remind my colleague that when he too suffered from his knee injury and he had to stay home on certain occasions, nobody threw any aspersions against him. Now as it relates to the piece of legislation, we have to be concerned specifically as to how this institution is viewed by the public. At the end of the day, we have a situation where we clearly heard that this is unlawful to do during this period. 3:39:44 Our code says no law can be enacted. And we asked for a definition and we were told that to enact it at this period of time is unlawful. It is that simple. But if we do it after the election, we will fall outside of that six-month realm and everything should be resolved so i am not against but also i'm going to ask again what is the justification from going from one thousand dollars to thirty five hundred dollars in contribution i reserve the balance of my time how much time remain for francis haligo 10 seconds I'm not even sure how to respond to the senator that just sat there and voted for the first one, even after they stated something, but it's not allowed. That's not true. 3:40:37 The thing is, is this is not the first bill that would be passed that's not put into effect until a following year. None of these are going to take effect this year. Again, every one of us in here that's running again have already filed. So there's nothing that's going to affect you in this until 2026. I reserve the balance of my time. And inflation. These guys were here and 3:41:43 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II discussed that. Again, they were the ones that came up with these suggestions, the Board of Elections and the election system. I reserve the balance of my time. How more time remain for Senator Gittens? 15 seconds. Thank you. I am not sure if my colleague is into reading comics or creating alternate realities. But at the end of the day, when it came to the first amendment, legal counsel did not share with us that it was unlawful. It was in the second amendment is when we were told, and from then I have voted no. I reserve the balance of my time. Your time have expired. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Senator Gittins, you got 15 seconds. I'm ready to vote. Thank you, Mr. President. All time being utilized, roll call. 3:42:22 Senator Marvin A. Blyden? No. Senator Blyden? Nay. Senator Angel L. Bukes, Jr.? Nay. Senator Bukes, Jr.? Nay. Senator Diane T. Capehart? No. Senator Capehart? No. Senator Capehart? Not voting. Senator Samuel Carrion? No. Senator Carrion? Nay. No. Senator DeGraff, nay. Senator Ray Fonseca. Yay. 3:43:11 Senator Fonseca, yay. Senator Novelli, Francis Junior? Aye. Senator Francis Junior, not- Senator Francis Junior. Yay. Senator Francis Junior, yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger? No! Senator Francis Heiliger, nay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? No. Senator Fred Gregory, nay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins, yay. Senator Maurice C. James? No. Senator James? Nay. Senator Javan E. James Senior? No. Senator James Senior? Absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? No. Senator Johnson? 3:43:38 Nay. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Senator Joseph? Senator Joseph? Absent. Senator Milton E. Potter? No. Senator Potter? Nay. Mr. President, three yays? Mr. President, change my vote. Please record a change to Senator Fonseca's vote to no. Senator Ray Fonseca, nay. Mr. President, two yays, ten nays, three absent, one not voting. 3:44:16 Thank you very much. The measure fails. Amendment, any other amendment, Senator? You recognize your amendment, Senator Maurice C. James. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I move amendment number 35-804 to bill number 35-0262. I move bill number 35-804 is amend, 0262 is amended by adding an appropriately numbered section that reads as follows. Section blank. A. The sum of $1,500,000 is appropriated in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024 from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to the Virgin Islands Department of Public Works to purchase road clearing equipment to fund road repairs on the island of St. Croix and to complete the road repairs authorized under Section 5 of Act No. 87, 7T on the following parcels of land, 1, plot L to 4T, Lower Love, 2, road parcels 215 and 216 in Estate Morningstar, 3, Estate La Grande Princess, plots 94 to 272, and 4, Contentment Road, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, B, of the sum appropriated in subsection A, $250,000 must be used to purchase road clearing equipment. C, the funds appropriated 3:44:49 in subsection A must be expended not later than September 30th, 2025. I so move. Motion properly made by Senator Maurice James, seconded by Senator Blyden. Hearing objections so ordered any other amendments going once going twice going three times roll Call on bill number 35 of a motion or amendment amendment Senator Carillon amendment number 35 just six eight nine I so move motion to reconsider motion to reconsider Made by Senator Carrion. Seconded by Senator Bulquez and Senator Francis Heiliger. 3:46:45 Objected to by Senator Gittins. Roll call. Senator Marvin A. Blyden? Senator Blyden? Nay. Senator Blyden? Nay. Senator Angelo Bocas, Jr.? Yes. Senator Bocas, Jr., yay. Senator Diane T. Capehart? No, no. Senator Capehart, not voting. Senator Samuel Carrion? Yes. Senator Carrion, yay. Senator Duane M. DeGraff? No. Senator DeGraff, nay. Senator Ray Fonseca? Yes. Senator Fonseca, yay. Senator Novelli Francis, Jr.? No. Senator Francis, Jr., nay. senator alma francis heiliger senator francis heiliger yay senator donna a fred gregory senator fred gregory yay senator kennett l gettins no senator gettins nay senator maurice c james senator james yay senator javon e james senior senator james senior absent Senator Franklin D. Johnson, yay. Senator Karla J. Joseph, absent. Senator Milton E. Potter, yes. Senator Potter, yay. Mr. President, eight yays, four nays, two absent, one at voting. The motion for reconsideration passes. Roll call on reconsideration. Senator Marvin A. Blyton? Nay. Senator Blyton? Nay. Senator Anghel L. Bocas, Jr. Nay. Senator Dianne T. Capehart? Nay. Senator Capehart? Nay. Senator 3:47:52 Senator Samua Carillon, yes Senator Carillon, yay Senator Duane M. DeGraff, no Senator DeGraff, nay Senator Ray Fonseca, nay Senator Fonseca, nay Senator Fonseca, nay Senator Fonseca, yes Senator Fonseca, yay Senator Fonseca, one second we had a motion for reconsideration for us to consider now we're taking a vote on the reconsideration. Yes, the amendment. That's what we consider in the amendment. 3:49:51 Yeah, yes. All right, so we have who? Who's up next? Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Nay. Senator Francis Jr. Nay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. Senator Francis Heiliger, not voting. Point of order. Point of order. There is a reconsideration for the amendment that was offered. The roll call is being conducted and that reconsideration on the amendment that was offered before. So obviously, you know, there is two yes votes so far, four nay votes in terms of the amendment. Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 Speaker 1 There was a 3:50:24 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) 26 of 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II call for reconsideration of the amendment that was previously passed, and that passed for us to reconsider it. We're under reconsideration of time of whether or not the vote will change for the amendments. I don't understand what's so difficult in that. Let's start over with the roll call, please. Let's start over with a roll call. I know individuals are tired. It's getting late, so let's start over with a roll call. Senator Marvin A. Blyden? Nay. Senator Blyden? Nay. Senator Angel L. Bulquez, Jr.? Nay. Senator Bulquez, Jr.? Nay. Senator Diane T. Capehart? Nay. Senator Capehart? Nay. Senator Samuel Carrion? Nay. Senator Carrion? Nay. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff? Senator DeGraff? Nay. Senator Ray Fonseca? Nay. Senator Fonseca? Nay. Senator Novelli Francis Jr? No. Senator Francis Jr? Nay. One second. One second. Yeah, but they're voting on something that they don't understand of what they're voting for. So I can't allow it to continue. Well, my job is to make sure there's clarity in the vote. What is their fault is understood. But again, my job is to make sure there's clarity in the vote that's being taken. There was a request for reconsideration of the amendment, right? Which is the amendment that passed earlier, which is 689. And the motion for reconsideration was passed. So now we're reconsidering whether or not the amendment will go forward 3:51:46 or not. So a no vote may know it wouldn't go forward, and yes, it will go forward. All right. Let's start over the roll call again, please. Senator Marvin A. Blyton. Senator Blyton, Nay. Senator Angel L. Bulkes, Jr. Nay. 3:53:28 Senator Bulkes, Jr. Nay. Senator Diane T. Capehart. Senator Capehart, absent. Senator Samuel Carrion. No. Senator Carrion, Nay. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff. Nay. Senator DeGraff, Nay. Senator Ray Fonseca. Nay. Senator Fonseca, Nay. Senator Nouvelle Francis Jr. Yes. Senator Francis Jr. Yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. No. Senator Francis Heiliger. Nay. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory. No. 3:53:54 Senator Fred Gregory. Nay. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Gittins, not voting. Senator Maurice C. James. No. Senator James. Nay. Senator Javon A. James Sr. Mr. President, two yays, nine nays, three absent, one not voting. Please recall Senator Gittins' vote as yes. 3:54:32 Senator Gittins, yay. Mr. President, three yays, nine nays, three absent. The measure fails. Roll call on Bill No. 35-0262 as amended, as heavily amended. Senator Marvin A. Blyton. Yay. Senator Blyton, yay. 3:55:14 Senator Angelo Bulquez Jr. Yes. Senator Bulquez Jr. Yay. Senator Diane T. Capehart. Yes. Senator Capehart absent. Senator Samuel Carrion. Yes. Senator Carrion. Yay. Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff. Yes. Senator DeGraff. Yay. Senator Ray Fonseca. Yes. Senator Fonseca. Yes. Senator Fonseca. Senator Fonseca not voting. Senator Novelli Francis Jr. Yes. 3:55:44 Senator Francis Jr. Yes. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger? Yes. Senator Francis Heiliger? Yes. Senator Donna A. Fred Gregory? Yes. Senator Fred Gregory? Yes. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins? Yes. Senator Maurice C. James? Yes. Senator James? Yes. Senator Javan E. James, Senior? Senator James Sr. absent. Senator Franklin D. Johnson? Yes. Senator Johnson? Yes. Senator Karla J. Joseph? Yes. Senator Joseph? Yes. Senator Joseph? 3:56:12 Yes. Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter? Yes. Yes. Mr. President, 11 yeas, 3 absent, 1 not voting. Thank you very much. Please recall Senator Capehart's vote as yes, And Senator Fonseca's vote is yes. Mr. President, 13 yays, 2 absent. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 35.0262, an act appropriating $1,434,950,000 fiscal year 2024 from the Community's Facilities Trust Fund for the pre-construction soft cost funding to prepare the Charlotte Amalis Harbour for Dredgen as amended has been approved by the 35th Legislature of the Virgin Islands will be sent to the Governor for further consideration I want to thank each and every one of you for your service today, certainly thank our central staff for the long hours and I apologize in advance to you for these long hours tonight and get home safe the session of July 22nd 2024 is hereby adjourn. God bless you. Get home safe. 3:56:54 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You 3:58:35 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. 73x Senator Kenneth L. Gittens heard in this transcript as: Gettins, Gittens, Gittins, Gittins', Kenna L. Gittins, Kenneth Gittins 66x Senator Marise C. James the surname alone also matches: Javan James; Giovanni James Sr heard in this transcript as: James, James Sr, James Sr., Marie C. James, Maurice C. James, Maurice E. James 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II 64x Senator Ray Fonseca heard in this transcript as: Fonseca, Fonseca's 57x Senator Milton E. Potter heard in this transcript as: Potter 54x Senator Marvin Blyden heard in this transcript as: Blyden, Blyton, Marvin A. Blyden, Marvin A. Blyton, Marvin Blyton 49x Senator Dwayne DeGraff heard in this transcript as: DeGraf, DeGraff, DeGraph, Degraff, Duane M. DeGraff, Dwayne M. DeGraff 49x Senator Franklin D. Johnson heard in this transcript as: Franklin Johnson, Johnson 43x Senator Alma Francis-Heyliger the surname alone also matches: Alma Francis Heiliger heard in this transcript as: Alma Frances Heiliger, Alma Francis Heileger, Alma Francis Heiliger, Alma Francis Holliger, Alma Francis Hyliger, Alma Francis-Heileger 43x Senator Diane T. Capeheart heard in this transcript as: Capehart, Diane T. Capehart, Dianne T. Capehart 43x Senator Novelle Francis heard in this transcript as: Frances, Francis, Francis Jr, Francis Jr., Nouvelle Francis Jr, Novelli Francis Jr 41x Senator Carla Joseph the surname alone also matches: Clifford Joseph; Karla J. Joseph heard in this transcript as: Carla J. Joseph, Carla J. Joseph Joseph, Joseph 32x Senator Fred Gregory the surname alone also matches: Donna A. Frett-Gregory; Donna Frett-Gregory; Donna A. Fred Gregory; Frank Gregory heard in this transcript as: Gregory 31x Senator Samuel Carrion heard in this transcript as: Carrion, Carrione 22x Senator Angel L. Bocas Jr heard in this transcript as: Angel Bocas Jr, Angel L. Bocas Jr., Angel L. Bocaz Jr, Angelo Bocas Jr, Angelo Bocas Jr., Anghel L. Bocas Jr. 22x Senator Donna A. Frett-Gregory heard in this transcript as: Dona Frey Gregory, Donna A. Fred Gregory, Donna Fred Gregory 16x Senator Angel L. Bolques, Jr. heard in this transcript as: Angel L. Bolques Jr., Angel L. Bulquez Jr., Angelo Bulquez Jr, Bolquez, Boquez Jr., Bulquez 16x Senator Javan James heard in this transcript as: Javan A. James, Javan E. James, Javan E. James Sr, Javan E. James Sr., Javon A. James Sr, Javon E. James Sr 11x Senator Angel L. Bulkes Jr heard in this transcript as: Angel L. Bukes Jr., Angel L. Bulkes Jr., Bukes Jr., Bulkas, Bulkers, Bulkes Jr. 9x Senator Samuel Carillon heard in this transcript as: Cadillon, Carillon, Samua Cadillon, Samua Carillon 8x Senator James Senior 6x Senator Francis Heidegger heard in this transcript as: Frances Heidegger, Francis Heilegger 6x Senator Francis Junior 6x Senator Karla J. Joseph the surname alone also matches: Carla Joseph; Clifford Joseph heard in this transcript as: Kala J. Joseph 6x Governor Kenneth Mapp heard in this transcript as: Kenneth Ezra Mapp, Mapp 5x Senator Angel L. Bokes Jr heard in this transcript as: Angel L. Bokes Jr., Angel L. Bokesh Jr., Bokes Jr., Bokesh Jr. 5x Senator Javon E. James Senior heard in this transcript as: Javan E. James Senior 4x Senator Giovanni James Sr 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 29 Legislature USVI · | The Committee of the Whole/Regular Session II the surname alone also matches: Javan James; Marise C. James; Neville James 3x Senator Alma Francis Heidegger heard in this transcript as: Alma Francis Heilegger 3x Senator Diane T. K. Park heard in this transcript as: Diane T. K. Part, Dianne T. K. Park 3x Senator Marvin A. Blighton heard in this transcript as: Blighton 2x Senator Collar J. Joseph the surname alone also matches: Carla Joseph; Clifford Joseph 2x Senator Frank Gregory the surname alone also matches: Donna A. Frett-Gregory; Donna Frett-Gregory 2x Senator Kaye Part heard in this transcript as: K. Park 2x Senator Marie C. James Yes 1x Senator Donna Frett-Gregory heard in this transcript as: Donna A. Frett-Gregory 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. Bill 35-0229 Act 8873 · July 22, 2024 · An Act honoring and commending the Eighth elected Governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth Ezra Mapp for his years of service to the people of the Virgin Islands and naming Route 75 on the island of St. Croix from Bassin Triangle intersection at Route 70, Estate Richmond and ending at Krausse·s Lagune the ·Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp Highway·; appropriating $45,000 from the General Fund of the Treasury of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the Department of Public Works to implement the mandates of this Act, to bestow the Virgin Islands Medal of Honor on Kenneth Ezra Mapp and for other related purposes Act 8587 Act 8587 · July 20, 2022 · An Act repealing and re-enacting title 14 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 41, section 843 relating to fraudulent claims upon the Government of the Virgins Islands, its officers, departments, boards, commissions, or agencies ---0 Act 8759 Act 8759 · An Act providing an appropriation from the General Fund of the Treasury of the Government of the Virgin Islands for the operation of the Government of the Virgin Islands during the fiscal year October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024 ---0 Act 8873 Act 8873 · July 22, 2024 · An Act honoring and commending the Eighth elected Governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth Ezra Mapp for his years of service to the people of the Virgin Islands and naming Route 75 on the island of St. Croix from Bassin Triangle intersection at Route 70, Estate Richmond and ending at Krausse·s Lagune the ·Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp Highway·; appropriating $45,000 from the General Fund of the Treasury of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the Department of Public Works to implement the mandates of this Act, to bestow the Virgin Islands Medal of Honor on Kenneth Ezra Mapp and for other related purposes Referred to but not found in our acts corpus: Bill 35-0236, Bill 35-0305, Bill 35-0310, Bill 35-0311, Bill 35-0312, Bill 35-0313, Bill 35-0195, Bill 35-0239, Bill 35-0259, Bill 35-0294, Bill 35-0308, Bill 35-0281, Bill 35-0242, Bill 35-0284, Bill 35-0240, Bill 35-0262, Bill 35-0301, Bill 35-0269, Bill 35-0314, Bill 35-0833, Bill 35-0804 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 29