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I 106TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2841 To amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to provide for greater fiscal autonomy consistent with other United States jurisdictions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 13, 1999 Mrs. CHRISTENSEN (for herself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, and Mr. GEORGE MIL- LER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources A BILL To amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to provide for greater fiscal autonomy consistent with other United States jurisdictions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. GREATER FISCAL AUTONOMY. 3 (a) ISSUANCE.—Section 8(b)(ii)(A) of the Revised 4 Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (48 U.S.C. 5 1574(b)(ii)(A)) is amended— 6 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting after 7 ‘‘other evidence of indebtedness’’ the following: ‘‘, in- 8 2 •HR 2841 IH cluding but not limited to notes in anticipation of 1 the collection of taxes or revenues, ’’; 2 (2) by striking ‘‘to construct, improve, extend’’ 3 and all that follows through ‘‘Provided, That no pub- 4 lic’’ and inserting ‘‘for any public purpose authorized 5 by the legislature: Provided, That no such’’; and 6 (3) by striking ‘‘and payable semiannually. All 7 such bonds shall be sold for not less than the prin- 8 cipal amount thereof plus accrued interest’’ 9 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS AND CONFORMING 10 AMENDMENTS.— 11 (1) REPEAL.—Section 8(b)(ii)(B) of the Re- 12 vised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (48 U.S.C. 13 1574(b)(ii)(B)) is repealed. 14 (2) REDESIGNATION.—Section 8(b)(ii)(C) of 15 the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (48 16 U.S.C. 1574(b)(ii)(C)) is redesignated as section 17 8(b)(ii)(B). 18 (3) REDUNDANT PROVISION.—Section 1 of 19 Public Law 94–392 (90 Stat. 1193) is amended by 20 striking subsection (d). 21 SEC. 2. AGREEMENT. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior is 23 authorized to enter into an agreement with the Governor 24 of the Virgin Islands establishing mutually agreed finan- 25 3 •HR 2841 IH cial accountability and performance standards for the fis- 1 cal operations of the Government of the Virgin Islands. 2 (b) TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Upon ratification 3 of the agreement authorized in subsection (a) by both par- 4 ties, the Secretary shall forward a copy of the agreement 5 to the Committee on Resources in the House of Represent- 6 atives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 7 sources in the Senate. 8 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATES. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 10 (b), the amendments made by section 1 shall apply to 11 those instruments of indebtedness issued by the Govern- 12 ment of the Virgin Islands after the date of the enactment 13 of this Act. 14 (b) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO REACH AGREEMENT.— 15 If the agreement authorized in section 2(a) is not ratified 16 by both parties on or before December 31, 1999, the 17 amendments made by section 1— 18 (A) shall not apply to instruments of indebted- 19 ness issued by the Government of the Virgin Islands 20 on or after December 31, 1999; and 21 (B) shall continue to apply to those instruments 22 of indebtedness issued by the Government of the 23 4 •HR 2841 IH Virgin Islands after the date of the enactment of 1 this Act and before December 31, 1999. 2 Æ