After weeks of poring over numbers and weighing priorities, senators described closing out the fiscal year 2026 budget process Thursday with a sense of accomplishment: they not only advanced the full slate of appropriations bills, but also found the money needed to fund a base pay increase for government workers earning under $35,000 a year.

The raise itself was settled months ago, when lawmakers overrode Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s veto of Bill No. 36-0053, sponsored by Sen. Kurt Vialet, which raised the floor for full-time government employees from $27,040 to $35,000. At the time, Bryan had warned that the mandate was “reckless,” pegging the annual cost — including payroll and fringe benefits — at close to $40 million. Senators, led by Vialet, countered that the impact would be far less, but the question of how to sustain it hung over the Legislature’s summer hearings.

That answer finally came during the budget markup over the past two weeks. Finance, Budget, and Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Novelle Francis said in a call with the Source Friday that, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget and the Division of Personnel, the figure needed to sustain the increase is closer to $4.6 million: $3.5 million for salaries and another $1.1 million for fringe benefits. The difference, Francis said, lies in the fact that many agencies already had employees making closer to $35,000, so the actual number of workers affected was far fewer than initially suggested, with the largest gaps in areas like custodial staff and at agencies such as Sports, Parks and Recreation, among others.

To cover the cost, lawmakers leaned on vacancy savings. Across government, there are more than 800 vacant positions, Francis explained, and while departments and agencies continue to receive money to fill them, the Legislature redirected a portion to shore up the base pay increases. “It was about being honest about what we actually spend, and making sure the people at the lowest end of the pay scale are taken care of,” he said, echoing senators’ comments over the past few months.

The markup also gave senators an opportunity to shore up the health care system. In addition to the broader $67 million hospital appropriation, lawmakers carved out $2.5 million each for Schneider Regional Medical Center and Juan F. Luis Hospital, plus $1.5 million apiece for the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute and JFL’s cardiac catheterization lab. Francis said the earmarks are intended to give providers flexibility to purchase supplies and stabilize critical services.

Health insurance was another pressure point. According to testimony delivered by the Division of Personnel in June, group health insurance costs jumped nearly $20 million year over year — from $206.2 million in FY 2024 to $226.1 million in FY 2025, a 9.7 percent increase, with the government covering the majority of the rise. Officials warned that additional rate hikes could take effect in FY 2026, and Francis said lawmakers made sure those higher premiums were accounted for in the budget from the outset so agencies wouldn’t be forced to cut elsewhere.

At the heart of the package is Bill No. 36-0174, the government’s main operating budget, which appropriates just over $725 million from the General Fund (about $752 million including non-lapsing funds). Taken together with companion bills — covering everything from the Judiciary, Legislature, and UVI to hospitals, Waste Management, and special revolving funds — lawmakers approved nearly $1 billion in local appropriations for FY 2026. Several measures also transfer money from special funds, such as the Insurance Guaranty and Tourism Advertising funds, directly into the General Fund to help balance operations.

Francis noted that more than 20 budget hearings were held this summer, with lawmakers pressing agency heads on staffing, service delivery, and finances. The base pay increase, however, became the clearest test of the Legislature’s resolve. Months after the veto override, it was important, senators said, to ensure the raise could be sustained without blowing a hole in the budget.

“The numbers had to work,” Francis said. “In the end, we found a way.”

The FY 2026 budget bills, listed below, now head to the Rules and Judiciary Committee for further approval:

36-0154 – $2.9M from Health Revolving Fund: $1.5M to Dept. of Health, $1.4M to General Fund.
36-0155 – $1.4M from General Fund to VI Fire & EMS Fund.
36-0156 – $4.07M from Business & Commercial Properties Revolving Fund to Property & Procurement.
36-0157 – $1.1M from VI Lottery to the General Fund.
36-0158 – $1.28M from District Public Road Fund to Public Works.
36-0159 – $2.86M from Indirect Cost Fund for OMB, Personnel, Finance, P&P.
36-0160 – $3.5M from General Fund to St. Croix & St. Thomas Capital Improvement Funds.
36-0161 – $25.5M from General Fund to Legislature.
36-0162 – $20M from Insurance Guaranty Fund to General Fund.
36-0163 – $2.75M from General Fund for Elections Board & Supervisor.
36-0164 – $3M from School Construction Fund to Bureau of School Construction.
36-0165 – $6M from Caribbean Basin Initiative Fund to General Fund.
36-0166 – $45.6M from Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund across multiple agencies.
36-0167 – $34.98M from General Fund to UVI.
36-0168 – $1.89M from General Fund for PERB & Labor Management Committee.
36-0169 – $1M from Education Initiative Fund to School Construction.
36-0170 – $1.5M from Sewer Waste Water Fund to VIWMA.
36-0171 – $67M from General Fund to hospitals (SRMC, JFL, CCI, Cath Lab, utilities).
36-0172 – $2.9M from General Fund to Office of Inspector General.
36-0173 – $46.5M from General Fund to Judiciary, Judicial Council, Territorial Public Defender.
36-0174 – $725.4M from General Fund for government operations ($752.2M incl. non-lapsing).
36-0175 – $2.08M from PSC Revolving Fund to PSC.
36-0176 – $500K from General Fund to St. John Capital Improvement Fund.
36-0177 – $2.14M from General Fund to VI Board of Education.
36-0178 – $11M from Transportation Trust Fund to BMV, DPW, contribution.
36-0179 – $690K from General Fund to Career & Technical Education Board.
36-0180 – $555K from Taxi Revolving & Tourism Advertising Funds to Taxi Commission.
36-0181 – $6.3M from Anti-Litter & Beautification Fund.
36-0182 – $32.5M from General Fund to Waste Management Authority.
36-0186 – $4.89M from GVI/JPMC Charitable Fund.
36-0120 – $341K from Education Initiative Fund for special education evaluations.