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VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS Committee on Rules and Judiciary Legislature USVI May 26, 2026 · 2.0 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/1PDHzF1qiLg 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. I'll see you next time. Thank you. Oh, my God. [3 such phrases repeated 12 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:00:00 so so Thank you. Thank you. [2 such phrases repeated 8 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:06:00 Thank you. We'll be right back. 0:11:30 Thank you. Thank you. 0:12:30 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:13:30 ¶¶ Thank you. 0:16:30 Thank you. so Thank you. Thank you. 0:17:30 Thank you. Thank you. 0:19:30 play Thank you. 0:20:30 We'll be right back. Thank you. Thank you. 0:21:30 ¶¶ Oh, yeah, man. Thank you. I love you. so so so so 0:23:00 Thank you. so Oh, my God. 0:26:59 Thank you. [1 such phrases repeated 11 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:28:29 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) 1 of 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:33:59 Thank you. Thank you. so Thank you. 0:36:59 so so Thank you. 0:38:59 so ¶¶ Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:40:29 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:44:59 Oh, my God. Thank you. You Oh, my God. [3 such phrases repeated 13 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:46:59 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 0:53:59 Thank you. Good morning, colleagues, Senate and central staff, and our listening is actually good afternoon. 0:55:29 Good afternoon, colleagues, Senate and Central staff and our listening and viewing audience. The 36th Legislature of the Virgin Islands Committee on Rules and Judiciary Hearing for Tuesday, May 26, 2026 is hereby called to order. Before I begin my usual preamble for our meetings, I want to just say a happy and blessed birthday to Mr. Majority Leader himself, Senator Kurt A. Viale. Happy birthday, Senator Viale, and God's continued blessing over you. In addition to that, I'd like to say happy first birthday to my granddaughter, Kalia Carlita Daniel, who made one also today. I'm such a proud grandma. So I really want to wish the both of them and anyone else who is within the listening airs of my voice and also seeing us here, a live and legit TV, happy birthday, guys, covering over you. 0:56:32 Yesterday, we celebrated Memorial Day, a significant day during which Military Appreciation Month is celebrated. We celebrate and honored those who have given so much for our liberty, including our service members and their families. Yesterday, we took time to remember and honor those whose lives were lost in service while protecting our country and holding our freedom within their hands. Colleagues, I would like us to stand, if we can, just in honor of our men and women in the military who have given their best and their fullest and made that sacrifice to hold our freedom here. Kindly be seated. 0:57:55 This month, and before I go on and talk about the other things in this month, I really have to emphasize something that was shared yesterday at the Memorial Day 2026 ceremonies that was held at the Eastern Cemetery. And their theme is, for we are grateful. You know, we really are grateful for those persons who serve in our military. Even now, we have a conflict that is going on in the Middle East. But on our shore, we still have some peace. And those men and women do their very best to protect us and hold fast to our protection, even against enemies within the United States. 0:59:01 I want to, if you allow me, to read out a poem that this great lady, I know her, Ms. Delita Farrington-France, is a gold star mother. and gold star mothers and parents are those individuals who have died and they in service to protecting this country so that's this is a poem that she penned and she said she guarantee guardians grateful o overcomers l lovable d dedicated disciplinarians that spell gold And then STAR stands for S, strength, sacrifices. T, tears we shed. A, ambitious. R, remarkable. And then Mothers stand for M, motivated mothers are special. O, organizers. T, they died for us. H, honoring all who served. E, exceptional experiences. R, remembering everyone who died S, some gave all What a very appropriate poem that she wrote Now, we're just moving on to some of the other awareness that we have for the month of May We have mental health awareness, a time to raise awareness fight stigma, and provide resources to individuals and communities to improve mental health of our people. Mental health is a key part of health, impacting our emotional, social, and psychological well-being. This year's team for 2026 is More Good Days Together. So I really want to say kudos to all who work in this area, especially places like Insight, Virgin Islands. We have also a number of our mental health providers in the Department of Health. I really want to say kudos to all of you who really do such a yeoman's job of making sure that everyone stays in good health. May is also designated as Small Business Month. I like 0:59:53 to say that the small business community is the lifeblood of any and every economy. We recognize the critical role small business play in fostering innovation, generating employment, boosting our local economy across the virgin islands and our nation i just want to pull out a bit of statistics for you to see how important small businesses are small businesses account for 99.9 let me repeat that percentage 99.9 of all u.s businesses approximately 70 percent of small businesses are owned and run by a single person that's a sole proprietorship and small businesses provide 1.5 million jobs annually. So we say thank you to our small business owners for the services you offer in our community as well as across our nation. And finally, and this is the exciting part of today, what I really enjoy and that's why I was a little late in starting our 2025-2026 school year comes to an end i want to say congratulations to all our graduates and all of the students promoted on every grade level i just had the wonderful experience of attending the joseph gomez elementary promotional exercise where i believe 80 plus students graduated got promoted and in my sidebar with the principal miss irma skelton she said 70 of them are on the honor rolls so that's kudos to them as well as their family members and the teachers at joseph 1:02:21 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) 2 of 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary gomez to our high school students and college graduates as you embark on your next level of life move forward knowing that you are capable of anything and everything you have the greatest potential and you are possible we look forward to your professional growth and the contributions you make to our community and society from work to volunteering and future leaderships I want to really say a major shout out and kudos to the graduates' parents, their grandparents, their guardians, other persons within our community. It truly takes a village to help nurture and bring our young people to a place where they are achieving. And so I really want to say congratulations to them. and also for our teachers and school administrators, faculty and staff. So much work goes into providing that necessary environment for students to learn and thrive. So I want to say thank you for the work you do day in, day out to educate and care for our children at our schools across the territory. the education of our children takes all of us as I said together I hope you have a fun and wonderful summer thank you and finally for our graduates and our younger ones I want to do something very important and it helped me I want to encourage you to read I used to read everything I had my summer reading projects and i would read off all of my books on time and be able to submit as well my summary of the book i read so that is very critical reading comprehension is very critical because it helps you to become critical thinkers and be able to be problem solvers so i want to encourage you to read just 15 minutes a day and parents even if your babe even if you have an infant read it to that baby continue to read and you'll see how well they will develop I also want to encourage you to take time out to go outdoors with your children and I really appreciate all of the graduates. And with that being said, Madam Clerk, kindly proceed to roll call. Senator Angel L. Bulquez Jr. Present. Senator Bulquez Jr. Present. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Gittins, absent. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. Present. Senator Francis Heiliger, present. Senator Carla J. Joseph, present. Senator Joseph, present. Senator Clifford A. Joseph, Sr. Senator Joseph, Sr. absent. Senator Avery L. Lewis, absent. Senator Lewis, present. Senator 1:06:01 Milton E. Potter, here. Senator Potter, present. Madam Chair, you have five member five members present two members absent and thank you so much madam clerk and thank you colleagues for being here today madam clerk and we do have a quorum madam clerk do we have any correspondence no we don't madam chair thank you so much madam clerk i just want to say that we have a very short agenda today that's why we were able to start late i want to assure that everyone receives my apology for the late start we're supposed to start at 12 we're starting a little bit by 12 40 12 45 but we're still running with good time madam clerk kindly proceed to reading today's agenda into the record please be advised that the 36 legislature of the virgin islands committee on rules and judiciary has scheduled a hearing for tuesday may 26 2026 at 12 p.m in the earl b ottley legislative hall on saint thomas the purpose of the hearing is to consider the following legislative measures block one bill number three six that's zero one one four an act honoring and commending dilsa capital bill for her many contributions to the virgin islands community throughout her roles in various areas of social services and advocacy for abused women and children and to rename the bolongo bay head start facility the dilsa captaville head start facility in her honor proposed by senator carla joseph sponsored by senators milton e potter angel l boquez avery l lewis franklin d johnson and novelle e francis jr and co-sponsored by senator ray fonseca bill number 36-0191 an act honoring and commending detective delbert phipps jr posthumously for his service with the virgin islands police department and to the virgin 1:07:57 islands community by renaming the portion of hospital gada where it intersects with veterans drive at the alexander fairly criminal justice complex to be to the beginning of the mod proudford drive the detective delbert fifth junior memorial street proposed by senator angel l bokes jr sponsored by senators avery l lewis and franklin d johnson and co-sponsored by senator ray fonseca bill number three six that's zero one three three an act amending title 17 virgin islands code chapter 10 section 111 a 1 providing mental health education and instruction proposed by senator milton e potter bill number 36-0248 an act amending title 29 virgin islands code by enacting the commercial property assessed clean energy sea pace act produced by senator avery l lewis sponsored by senator maurice c james and co-sponsored by senators herbert l frederick and novelle e francis jr madam chair this ends the reading of the today's agenda thank you so much madam clerk madam clerk uh kindly uh recognize the presence of vice chair for the committee on rules and judiciary senator kenneth gittins and also joining us from the fritz louettes conference room in st croix is committee member clifford joseph thank you both for being here madam clerk kindly give us our tally of our voting strength madam chair you have seven members 1:10:12 present thank you so much madam clerk colleagues we have a very short agenda today we have four bills on the agenda we want to be able to work and act on these four bills in preparation for legislative session which is scheduled for Thursday May 28th we want to make sure we are doing the people's work in people's house madam clerk kindly call up the first before we do that colleagues uh we will have a two minute uh debate time for this entire block and all of these bills if you choose to use that two minutes that is up to you but the chair is granting you that two minutes and then then And we will call up each bill to be voted upon. 1:12:22 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 3 of 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary For all the bills in the block, two minutes. Thank you. So the chair would recognize first, the order for the members to be called up will be Senator Boquez Jr., followed by Senator Lewis. Next we'll have Senator Francis Heiliger, Senate President Milton Potter, followed by Clifford Joseph, Senator Joseph, and then we'll have Senator Kenneth Gittins, and last but not least, yours truly, Senator Carla Joseph. I'll round out the seven the magnificent seven so now we will recognize senator boquez for your two minutes to discuss all of the four bills that are in this block and the only block for today center boquez you're recognized thank you and good afternoon madam chair good afternoon colleagues good afternoon to the listening and viewing audience uh good afternoon central staff and to the people of the Virgin Islands. I wanted to start off with bill number 360114. I rise in support of that piece of legislation honoring Ms. Delsa Captaville for her decades of service to the children, families and victims throughout the Virgin Islands. Her work in child advocacy and social services and abuse prevention have definitely positively impacted countless lives across this territory and it's fitting that that facility is named after her as for the bill number 36.0133 to include mental health education within the school system i believe that this legislation helps to provide students with an important tool related to their emotional wellness resiliency coping skills and and support supportive 1:13:17 relationships not only with their peers but with adults as well so mental health really matters and our students deserve to have access to those resources at all times as for bill number three six zero one nine one to commend and honor posthumously detective delbert philips jr and by renaming a portion of the roadway in his honor I want to thank all of the senators that signed on to this measure and supported it i respectfully uh request that the amendment be um provided here today in this in this committee before it uh moves forward to full body um we i did have a discussion after the hearing with uh the parents and and they recommended not to extend uh the portion of the roadway into the area that was discussed um at the last hearing so i just want to make sure that that's on the record i'm not sure if there's any additional amendments to extend but i'm just put placing on a record that after discussions um with his mother and father they decided that uh preference wise they would prefer not to extend further than where the bill recommends at this time as for bill number three six dash zero two four eight um establishing the c-pace program in the virgin islands um i did not support the measure in the last committee hearing because of um some issues uh not having a amendment available to quell the issues that that at least in my opinion were prohibiting me from supporting uh the measure at the time but i understand that there is an amendment that uh madam chair if i may i think if i can close out you may proceed 1:15:26 with closing out senator bolquez jr thank you so much madam chair um i just i understand that there is a amendment circulating and um i will review the amendment and and both at the appropriate time uh thank you so much madam chair thank you so much senator bolquez at this time the chair would recognize senate secretary senator avery avery lewis for his two minutes kindly proceed thank you madam chair madam chair in the respective committees i voted appropriately in favor of all four bills here today so i do intend to vote in the affirmative again for all for especially not especially but all uh miss dilsa captainville as who's here with us today and i thank you for writing out this process with us miss captainville this is most deserving and fitting um mr detective delbert phipps and i do also support the amendment that is coming with this here and i'm giving him giving the road name the proper title the detective delbert phipps jr memorial street it's only fitting that when you go down that street and you see that title you know it's with honor with dignity that we salute blade detective delbert phipps jr as it pertains to mental health we see while we face in here in this territory with mental health and not just in this territory but worldwide now as a bill pertains to bill 3600248 an act amending title 29 virginal code by enacting a commercial property assessed clean energy act in the committee of jurisdiction the bill was passed but there were some questions by 1:17:17 the tax assessor office about being involved and they wanted a minimal role and we agreed on that and I went back and that's all this amendment does here today is not minimizing the government's participation but it It minimizes the role of the tax assessor, and the Department of Energy has agreed to take up certain duties and responsibilities, and it's already in the bill, but the amendment just adds that they also strengthen protection by requiring the property owners to certify that the property title is not in dispute, mortgage and property tax obligations are current, and the property owner is not involved in bankruptcy proceeding, and under this amendment, the responsibility of billing collection and enforcement, and much of the transaction processing shifts primarily to the private capital provider financing on the projects. Again, this is another tool in a tool shed, and that's all the amendment is doing. Thank you, Madam Chair. 1:19:06 Thank you so much, Senator Lewis. The chair will now recognize Mr. Senate President Milton E. Potter, for your two minutes. Thank you so very much, Madam Chair. Good morning. Good afternoon, colleagues. Special good afternoon to the people of the Virgin Islands. Madam Chair, I am in support of all four bills on this agenda today. I think this is my first opportunity to actually vote on these bills. I know they were all thoroughly vetted in the committees, various committees of jurisdiction. I start with Bill 36-0114, which I'm privileged to have signed on as a prime sponsor of this bill. The bill, of course, honors Ms. Dilsa Captaville for her lifelong commitment to social services, advocacy, and protection of abused women and children in our community. Renaming the Bolongo Bay Head Start facility in her honor 1:20:12 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) 4 of 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary is a fitting tribute to her tribute to her legacy of compassion, service, and dedication to the people of the Virgin Islands. Bill number 36.0191, which posthumously honors Detective Delbert Phipps Jr. for his distinguished service to the Virgin Islands Police Department and our community. Naming this roadway in his memory ensures that his sacrifice, his courage, and commitment to public safety will be permanently recognized madam chair we are also working i am working as a prime sponsor of the heroes bill which is a bill in detective phipps says honor also to provide insurance and other support services to dependents of class 3 employees who lose their lives while executing their duties in the u.s virgin islands so i'm really looking forward colleagues to your full support of that initiative uh bill number 36-0133 um which i'm a prime sponsor the prime sponsor of because mental health education is essential to the well-being of our students and our communities by incorporating mental health instruction in our education system we can promote awareness we can reduce stigma and better equip our young people with the tools to seek help and support I also support bill number 36-0248, the prime sponsor of this measure provided us with the amendments that were requested earlier. He complied with these amendments. The Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Act provides an important financing tool to tool to help property owners invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and resilience improvements. The measure can reduce energy costs, strengthen infrastructure, and support long-term economic and environmental sustainability. In the Virgin Islands, kudos to the sponsor of all four initiatives before us today. Thank you very much for the flexibility, Madam Chair. I thank you so much, Mr. President. The chair will now recognize Senator Clifford Joseph for your two minutes. 1:22:37 Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning to the listening public. Good morning to everybody hearing about Nellans and everybody in and out of our building here at Booth Legislative Hall. Madam Chair, I rise to support all four bills on the agenda, for sure. Again, for decades, Ms. Captiville have given kindly to our community. Ms. Captiville refused to sit idle and allow anything when it comes to abuse to become our norm. norm so when others might have turned a blind eye she stand firm so at this time I really like to again thank Ms. Castaville for her compassion that she gave when she solved and continued to solve the people at this Virgin Islands bill number and that's bill number 3601-14 and bill number 3601-91 Detective Delbert Fripps Jr. again remember the treasure a mentor and a leader what touched me with him is not just how we serve but anybody that takes the time out to put that among the effort into training and training others to become the best at where they could be I mean supported him it's fitting recognizing him just like how we recognize the military folks yesterday folks that give the ultimate we had a day for them I think here we need to make sure we have a public solvent who made the ultimate sacrifice as well so I'm in support and I'll again I'm in support of bill number 36 0133 melted health is a challenge I was at church this Sunday and I listened to a young lady talking about how much issues she had and i first were kind of like issues and you're still living at home but when she described one thing she closed out by saying is to other young folks 1:23:43 in the church was to make sure you don't have to be part of a group because god created you special so just want them to know that they're not forgetting i'm i'm in support of this bill and and I thank the bill sponsor for recommending and bringing forward such a bill to deal with mental health. And bill number 3602-48, I'm in total support of the peace. It's another avenue, like the bill sponsor mentioned, and I will be signing on to each one of these four. 1:25:53 Thank you, Madam Chair, for the time. And thank you so much, Senator Joseph, for those brief summations of all four bills. At this time, the chair would recognize the vice chair of the committee, Senator Alma-Francis Heiliger. I may have skipped over you, and I do apologize, because I know you are getting further prepared. So I will recognize you at this time for your two minutes. Thank you so much. 1:26:30 Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Good day to my colleagues, good day to the people of the territory, good day to the visitors here in the well and staff. I rise in support of several pieces of legislation here. I did get a chance to listen to some of them. Others I am gonna continue to review. As it relates to 360114, honoring Miss Captival, I think it's very timely for all the work that she's done in our community to really help and assist young people, women, so many people. I think it's a great thing that when people hear that you give people their flowers while they're living, this is a perfect example of this. and I am very happy to have signed on on this piece of legislation in support of honoring Ms. Captable. 36-0191, I am also a supporter of this piece of legislation. I definitely did sign on on it. We had an opportunity to hear it. I believe it was in government operations, and we really got in depth. think it's very it's very important when situations like this happen in our society that we do memorialize people that have taken a risk have sometimes given up their life to protect and serve the people of this territory so when it comes to Mr. Phipps officer Phipps I think it's a great thing we we did discuss in the committee the potential of extending the road while that was 1:27:08 a conversation as a body we did decide not to extend it I I know I had some objections which I did share on the floor that day so I'm happy to hear that my colleagues all support us stopping it exactly where it is um as it relates to 36 oh well i'll just wrap up health education is important 360133 and 360248 i will continue to analyze and make a decision thank you 1:28:58 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 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary so much madam chair and thank you so much senator francis heiliger at this time the chair will recognize Vice Chair Senator Kenneth Gittins for your two minutes thank you madam chair and good afternoon to all today colleagues I am in support of all the measures before us this morning but particularly bill number 36 there's 0 1 1 for honoring and commending miss Delta Captiville for her many years of dedicated service and contribution to the people of the Virgin Islands and the Virgin Islands community as a whole. Miss Captaville has tirelessly advocated for women and children and her work has touched countless lives here in the territory and her compassion, leadership and commitment to uplifting others exemplify the very best of public service so I say to you thank you as capital however I must make note that in the future communication is key and when it comes to these measures and specifically the naming of public buildings etc we must have communication with all the stakeholders involved going on to bill number 36-0191 the honoring and commending of detective delbert phipps jr he's being commended posthumously for his dedicated service to the people of the virgin islands and his service in the virgin islands police department he served with distinction integrity and commitment to public safety and his legacy continues to be remembered and appreciated by the community he served additionally i am i'll be introducing at the appropriate time an amendment to ensure the resolution properly reflects that this honor is being bestowed posthumously and that the designated roadway be officially named the detective delbert phipps jr memorial street this amendment ensures that detective phipps service and sacrifice are permanently memorialized in a manner worthy of his contributions to the virgin islands and particularly the st thomas st john district at the appropriate time i will vote upon the remaining bills uh thank you madam chair uh thank you so kindly mr vice chair uh colleagues i rise in support of most if not all of the bills definitely i want to start with bill number 1:30:53 36-0133 this is a mental health education and instruction measure to really help support our young people while they are in school and i recall that the bill sponsor had introduced this measure in the 34th legislature at one point and he is very consistent uh with noticing that that is very critical and and so i will be rising in support of this measure especially noting that this is mental health awareness month i will also rise in support of honoring a hero for the virgin islands detective dilbert phipps jr posthumously and naming of that road in his honor this just like our men and women in the military he gave the ultimate sacrifice and died while on duty and we must do what we can to demonstrate our appreciation especially for those persons who give tirelessly and sacrifice so that we as a community are better better for their their sacrifice then of course we have bill 36.0114 an act honoring and commending dilsa captaville for her many contributions to the virgin islands community and renaming the bolongo bay head start facility the dilsa captaville head start facility this bill is sponsored by yours truly and this is so deserving long awaited for this lady who has been consistent even she's not retired 1:32:47 consistent in having and making a major contribution she is a trailblazer par none where it comes to advocating for young people women men who are the least among us who have been abused and so this is so fitting and i would like to note that this is the first time that a governor has sent down a letter indicating his full support of a building to be named after someone in our community so i really want to say thank you uh governor alba brian jr for that letter and also thank you to my colleagues in the committee on government operations veteran affairs and consumer protection who signed on on this bill and other members who signed on on this bill and voted and finally bill 36.0248 which deals with the commercial property assess clean energy i i did listening into the discussion and i knew that the tax assessor office did have some challenges regarding their role in implementing this act so i understand the bill sponsor has provided some cleanup language which would reduce their portion and how much they are responsible for implementing this act given that they have uh really a a limited uh staffing to provide uh the services that are needed so i know that the bill sponsor has taken that into consideration and i look forward to reviewing the amendment well this rounds up all of our For debate time on these four measures in this only one block for today, Madam Clerk 1:34:39 call up the first item to be voted upon. Bill number 36-0114, an act honoring and commending Dilsa Captaville for her many contributions to the Virgin Islands community through her roles in various areas of social services and advocacy for abused women and children, and to rename the Bolongo Bay Head Start Facility, the Dilsa Captaville Head Start Facility, in her honor. by Senator Carla J. Joseph, sponsored by Senators Milton E. Potter, Angel L. Bocas Jr., Avery L. Lewis, Franklin D. Johnson, and Novell E. Francis Jr., and co-sponsored by Senator Ray Fonseca. Do I hear a motion? 1:36:45 Senator Milton Potter, you are recognized for your motion. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, Madam Chair, colleagues. I move that bill number 36-0114 and I'm honoring and commending Dilsa Captaville for her many contributions to the Virgin Islands community through her roles in various areas of social services and advocacy for abused women and children and to rename the Bolongo Bay Head Start Facility, the Dilsa Captaville Head Start Facility, in her honor be favorably voted upon by the Committee on Rules and Judiciary and forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action. I so move. 1:37:46 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 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary Bill number 36-0114 has been properly moved by Senator Milton E. Potter, seconded by Senator Avery Lewis. Roll call on Bill number 36-0114. Senator Angel L. Bocas Jr. Yes. Senator Bolkis Jr. Yes. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Yes. Senator Gittins, yes. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger? Yes. Senator Francis Heiliger, yes. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Yes. 1:38:32 Senator Joseph, yes. Senator Clifford A. Joseph Sr. Yes. Senator Joseph, yes. Senator Avery L. Lewis? Yes. Senator Lewis Yeh. Senator Milton E. Potter. Yes. Senator Potter Yeh. Madam Chair, you have seven yays. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 36-0114, an act honoring and commending Dilsa Captaville for her many contributions to the Virgin Islands community through her roles in various areas of social services and advocacy for abused women and children, and to rename the Bolongo Bay Head Start Facility, the Dilsa Captaville Head Start Facility, in her honour, has been favourably voted upon in the Committee on Rules and Judiciary and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action. 1:39:07 Mr. Kenneth Giddings, you are recognized for the point of information. Kenneth Giddings, Thank you, Madam Chair. Congratulations on the passage of this resolution. But I also want to make note that we need to look at these futuristically. I believe that this Bolongo Bay Head Start is a brand new facility. If I'm wrong, please correct me. So, this should be a naming of the facility and not a renaming. So we have to be careful when we set the legislative record. It should say, in the future, naming. And I saw that before, so I think I needed to say that so that we could definitely take a look at this. Thank you. 1:40:10 I don't agree. Thank you so much. definitely will look into this the i do know they have identified it in their federal grants as bolongo bay head start so um so that's one of the reasons why it was considered a renaming but the legislature has the authority to name any and all biz any and all government owned facility and any and all government road public road so we have that within our our jurisdiction and that's just a simple um technical amendment even need be thank you madam clerk kindly proceed with calling up bill number 36-0191 bill number three six that's zero one nine one and act honoring and commending detective delbert phipps jr posthumously for his service in the virgin islands police department and to the virgin islands community by renaming the portion of hospital gotta where it intersects with veterans drive at the alexander fairly criminal justice complex to the beginning of mod proudford drive the detective delbert fifth jr memorial street Proposed by Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr., and sponsored by Senators Avery L. Lewis and Franklin D. Johnson, and co-sponsored by Senator Ray Fonseca. 1:41:00 Do I hear an amendment? Senator Gittins, you're recognized for the amendment. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Madam Clerk and colleagues, I move amendment number 36, that's 812, an amendment to bill number 36, that's 0191, offered by yours truly. bill number 36 as 0191 is amended as follows a in section one by inserting open quote posthumously close quote after open quote phipps jr close quote and b in section 3a and b by striking open quote delbert phipps jr street close quote and inserting open quote detective delbert phipps jr memorial street close quote iso move amendment number 36-812 has been properly moved by senator Kenneth Gittins, seconded by Senators Avery Lewis, Potter, and Francis Heiliger. Hearing no objections, so order. Do I hear a motion? I move bill number 36-0191, an act honoring and commending Detective Delbert Phipps Jr. posthumously for his service with the Virgin Islands Police Department and to the Virgin Islands community by renaming the portion of Hospital Garda where it intersects with Veterans Drive at the Alexander Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex to the beginning of the Maud Proudfoot Drive the Detective Delbert Phipps Jr. Memorial Street be favorably voted upon in this committee of rules and judiciary and forward it to 1:42:46 the full body for further action and consideration. I so move. Senator, restate it because remember we just amended the bill. You neglected to say as amended. So just restate your motion and include as amended. Thank you. My apologies. Madam Chair, I move bill number 36.0191 as amended, an act honoring and commending Detective Delbert Phipps Jr. posthumously for his service with the Virgin Islands Police Department and to the Virgin Islands community by renaming the portion of Hospital Garda, where it intersects with Veterans Drive and the Alexander Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex. To the beginning of the Maude Proudfoot Drive, the Detective Delbert Phipps Jr Memorial Street be favorably voted upon in this Committee of Rules and Judiciary and forwarded to the full body for further action and consideration. I so move. Bill number 36-0191 has been properly moved by Senator Bolquez, seconded by Senator Lewis, Potter, and Gittins. Roll call on Bill number 36-0191, as amended. 1:45:08 Senator Angel L. Bolquez, Jr. Yeah. Senator Bolquez, Jr., yeah. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins. Senator Gittins, yeah. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. Senator Francis Heiliger, not vote. senator francis heiliger yay senator carla j joseph yes senator joseph yay senator clifford a joseph senior yes senator joseph senior yay senator avery l lewis senator lewis yay senator minute so senator milton e potter yes senator potter yay madam chair you have seven years thank you madam clerk bill number 36-0191 an act honoring and commending detective delbert phipps jr posthumously for his service with the virgin islands police department and to the virgin islands community by renaming the portion of hospital garter where it intersects with veterans drive at the alexander farrelly criminal justice complex to the beginning of the maud prowford 1:46:34 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 7 of 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary drive the detective delbert phipps jr memorial street as amended has been favorably voted upon in the committee on rules and judiciary and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action madam clerk kindly proceed with calling up the next bill on the agenda bill number 36-0133 an act amending title 17 virgin islands code chapter 10 section 111 a 1 providing mental health education and instruction proposed by senator milton e potter Senator Potter, you are recognized for your motion. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair and colleagues, I move that bill number 36-0133, an act amending Title 17 Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 10, Section 111A1, providing mental health education and instruction be favorably voted upon in the Committee of Rules and Judiciary and forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action. I so move. 1:48:36 Thank you. Bill number 36-0133 has been properly moved by Senator Milton Potter, seconded by Senator Avery Lewis. Roll call on bill number 36-0133. Senator Angel L. Bocas Jr. Senator Bocas Jr. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins Senator Gittins Senator Alma Francis Heiliger Senator Francis Heiliger Senator Carla J. Joseph Senator Joseph Senator Clifford A. Joseph, Sr. Yes. 1:49:14 Senator Joseph, Sr., yay. Senator Avery L. Lewis, yes. Senator Lewis, yay. Senator Milton E. Potter, yes. Senator Potter, yay. Madam Chair, you have seven yays. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 36-0133, an act amending Title 17, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 10, Section 111A1, Providing Mental Health Education and Instruction, has been favorably voted upon in the Committee on Rules and Judiciary, and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action. madam clerk kindly call up the last bill on today's very short agenda bill number 36-0248 an act amending title 29 virgin islands code by enacting the commercial property assessed clean energy c pace act proposed by senator avery l lewis sponsored by senator marie c james and co-sponsored by Senators Hubert L. Frederick and Novel E. Francis Jr. Madam, oh, sorry. 1:49:58 Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Do I hear an amendment? Senator Avery Lewis, you are recognized for your amendment. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Madam Clerk, I move amendment 36-808 to bill number 36-0248. section 1 is amended as follows a internal in internal section 1501 one redesignate subsections 1 through 14 as subsections a through n 2 in subsection 10 redesignate paragraphs a through c as paragraphs 1 through 3 respectively and in in 3 in subsection 13 redesignate paragraphs a through g as paragraphs one through seven respectively b in internal section 1502 one as senator potter you're recognized for your motion thank you very much uh madam chair madam chair i move to waive the reading of the amendment thank you that motion has been made by probably made by senator potter and seconded by senator Gittins. Hearing no objection. So ordered. Can media please recognize Senator Lewis's mic? 1:51:15 I so move. Second. Amendment number 36-808. Amendment number 36-808 has been properly moved by Senator Lewis, seconded by Senator Potter and Gittins. Hearing no objection, the motion carries. Motion. You're recognized for your motion, Senator. 1:52:52 Thank you. Madam Chair, I move Bill No. 36-0248 as amended, an act amending Title 29, Virgin Islands Code, by enacting the Commercial Property Assess Clean Energy C-Pace Act, be voted upon favorably in the Committee of Rules and Judiciary and forwarded to the full body for further consideration of vetting. I so move. second second all right good uh bill number 36-028 has been properly moved 248 has been properly moved by senator lewis seconded by senator potter roll call on bill number 36-0248 As amended. 1:53:21 Senator Angel L. Bocas, Jr. Aye. Senator Bocas, Jr., aye. Senator Kenneth L. Gittins? Aye. Senator Gittins, aye. Senator Alma Francis-Heiliger? Senator Francis-Heiliger, not voting. Senator Carla J. Joseph? Yes. Senator Joseph, aye. Senator Clifford A. Joseph, Sr.? Yes. 1:54:12 Senator Joseph Senior, yay. Senator Avery L. Lewis, yes. Senator Lewis, yay. Senator Milton E. Potter, yes. Senator Potter, yay. Madam Chair, you have six yeas, one not voting. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 36-0248, an act amending Title 29, Virgin Islands Code, by enacting the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Sea Pace Act, as amended, has been favorably voted upon in the Committee on Rules and Judiciary, and will be forward to the full body for further consideration and action senator avery lewis you're recognized for your point of personal privilege thank you madam clerk madam clerk and colleagues yesterday as i um uh participated in the board in exercises of the memorial day in our observance of memorial day i just want to bring to uh to to the attention of a lot of the leaders in this district that we who have flags in front of our buildings, I ask you humbly and respectfully, let's check on these flags and make sure they're in quality condition. 1:54:39 These flags symbolizes a lot of different reasons. People look up and see these flags and there's a representation of us. So all those who have battered American flags, flags even the flags of your entity let's make sure they're in pristine condition and we take care of them that's what i wanted to put on the record please thank you madam chair i thank you so much senator lewis colleagues this concludes all the business that we have before the committee and rules and judiciary i want 1:56:02 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) 8 of 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary to personally thank the committee uh staff my staff who sits behind and to the left of me these young people are truly amazing in the work that they do and my other staff members who keep everything in order downstairs while we are able to do this work i also want to thank you my colleagues for being here to continue to move on and press on and do the people's work i want to thank miss dilsa captaville who took time out of her schedule even though she's a retiree to make sure that she comes and to monitor the naming of this facility in her honor the Dilsa Captaville Head Start facility which is located in Bolongo Bay. I also want to thank our central staff who work tirelessly behind the scene to assure that we look good and that we are moving special kudos to our sergeant of arm is the Fleming as well I was a photographer mr. Potter and also for media in behind the scene and of course the person who's gonna write a wonderful press release about this whole process today and proceeding today miss Africa Harrigan I want to thank all of you I really want to tell you how deeply I appreciate your work and of course again my apologies for starting a little late I went to the graduation for job the promotional exercise for Joseph Gomez Elementary School and that kept me a little busy meeting and greeting everyone and just congratulating them so without any other business the committee on rules and Judiciary Meeting for Tuesday, May 26, is hereby adjourned. 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. 16x Senator Carla Joseph the surname alone also matches: Clifford Joseph; Karla J. Joseph heard in this transcript as: Carla J. Joseph, Joseph, Joseph Sr. 15x Senator Avery Lewis heard in this transcript as: Avery L. Lewis, Lewis 14x Senator Kenneth L. Gittens heard in this transcript as: Gittins, Kenneth Gittins, Kenneth L. Gittins 13x Senator Alma Francis-Heyliger heard in this transcript as: Alma Francis Heiliger, Alma Francis-Heiliger, Alma-Francis Heiliger, Francis Heiliger, Francis-Heiliger 12x Senator Milton E. Potter heard in this transcript as: Milton Potter, Potter 7x Senator Angel L. Bocas Jr heard in this transcript as: Angel L. Bocas Jr., Bocas Jr, Bocas Jr. 7x Senator Angel L. Bolques, Jr. heard in this transcript as: Angel L. Bolques Jr., Angel L. Bolquez Jr., Angel L. Bulquez Jr, Bolquez, Bolquez Jr., Boquez Jr 6x Senator Clifford Joseph heard in this transcript as: Clifford A. Joseph Sr, Clifford A. Joseph Sr. 3x Senator Kurt Vialet heard in this transcript as: Kurt A. Viale, Viale 3x Senator Ray Fonseca 2x Senator Angel L. Bolkis Jr heard in this transcript as: Bolkis Jr 2x Senator Joseph Senior 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 36-0114 Act 9094 · An act honoring and commending Dilsa Capdeville for her many contributions to the Virgin Islands community through her roles in various areas of social services and advocacy for abused women and children and naming the head start facility known as the Bolongo Bay Head Start Facility the ·Dilsa Capdeville Head Start Facility· in her honor Bill 36-0133 Act 9095 · May 28, 2026 · An act amending title 17 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 10, section 111(a)(1) providing mental 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 10 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary health education and instruction Act 9094 Act 9094 · An act honoring and commending Dilsa Capdeville for her many contributions to the Virgin Islands community through her roles in various areas of social services and advocacy for abused women and children and naming the head start facility known as the Bolongo Bay Head Start Facility the ·Dilsa Capdeville Head Start Facility· in her honor Act 9095 Act 9095 · May 28, 2026 · An act amending title 17 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 10, section 111(a)(1) providing mental health education and instruction Referred to but not found in our acts corpus: Bill 36-0191, Bill 36-0248, Bill 36-0028 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 10