Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. approved nine bills passed by the 36th Legislature last month and vetoed three, Government House spokesperson Richard Motta Jr. announced during a weekly briefing Monday. Two lease agreements and three resolutions were also approved.
The vetoed measures included an attempt by the Legislature to cap the salary amount used to calculate retirement annuities for the territory’s governor and lieutenant governor at $150,000 per year. Under existing law, the government’s highest-ranking officials are entitled to 40% of their annual salary if they serve one term and 80% if they serve two.
“The retirement structure for these offices was deliberately crafted to ensure that those who shoulder the weight of the highest public trust in our territory would never be left destitute,” Bryan wrote in a transmittal letter to Senate President Milton Potter. “It reflects the same principle behind why we honor the flag through ceremonial retirement instead of discarding it — out of deep respect for what it represents. In the same way, we must honor the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor.”
The veto comes amid friction between the members of the Legislature and Bryan, who repeatedly sparred this year over the implementation of salary increases for high-ranking government officials. Lawmakers voted to rescind the raises and later overrode Bryan’s veto of the measure.
Bryan also vetoed a measure dubbed “Jah’niqua’s Law.” The measure would have required those convicted of negligent homicide while driving under the influence to pay restitution if their actions permanently disabled or killed the parent of a minor. Bryan commended the bill’s intent but questioned its narrow scope.
“For example, under this bill, a person who is convicted of first-degree murder with intent would not be required to provide child maintenance to the victim’s children, while someone who unintentionally caused a fatal accident would be,” he wrote. “That disparity undermines both the moral weight and equitable application of the law.”
Bryan called for the measure to encompass “all acts that result in the death or permanent disability of a parent or guardian, regardless of the method or motive.”
He also vetoed a measure to establish the automatic expungement of arrest records and complaints for those who have been acquitted of crimes, which he said could eliminate “important context from the justice system.”
“Law enforcement agencies rely on historical records to assess behavioral patterns, even in cases where there was no conviction,” he said. “For example, consider a case where an individual has been acquitted in three separate domestic violence incidents. Though none resulted in conviction, the pattern itself could be highly relevant in future investigations, threat assessments, or bail determinations.”
The approved bills included measures meant to streamline procedures for the Government Employees’ Retirement System’s disability annuity approval procedures, exempting public safety agencies from liability for acts of negligence during emergency situations and declaring that people in police custody cannot legally consent to sexual relations.
Measures upping the penalties for violating sanitation laws and implementing the federal Achieving Better Life Experiences Act were also approved, as were two measures aimed at reforming social work in the territory. Bryan also approved a measure establishing Gun Violence Awareness Week.
Though he approved a broad measure amending disbursement of money from the Education Initiative Fund, Bryan line-item vetoed a section of the bill that would make psychiatric technicians eligible to retire after 20 years regardless of age. Bryan called the provision inconsistent with a section of the Virgin Islands Code which states that GERS “shall not provide any new increases in benefits to members or beneficiaries unless the Government has deposited the funding for the prior fiscal year into the bank account of the System and concurrently makes a provision for the funding of all future benefit improvements on a sound actuarial basis in the budget.”
“The bill fails to meet either of those legal requirements,” he wrote. “The GERS was not given an opportunity to conduct a necessary actuarial study to assess the financial impact of the proposed benefit change.”
St. Croix Source
Local government, Local news
