Budget hearings continued Thursday when the Senate Finance Committee received presentations from the Virgin Islands Judiciary and the University of the Virgin Islands, both of which testified to the impact of funding shortfalls and delayed allotments.
Chief Justice Rhys Hodge asked lawmakers for more than $53 million in funds for 2026, far more than the $40.2 million recommended by the central government in its executive budget proposal. Hodge said $1.1 million is needed to properly fund the Office of Conflict Counsel, which the V.I. Supreme Court established in 2023 to address case delays resulting from the lack of volunteer panel attorneys and private attorneys available to serve as court-appointed counsel for indigent defendants and parties in juvenile and family cases.
The office was later legislatively established through Act 8960, but Hodge said the $500,000 appropriation provided by the act has not been released by the V.I. Management and Budget Office.
Hodge also noted during testimony that the judiciary sought close to $4.5 million in 2025 to fund the second phase of a roof replacement at the R. H. Amphlett Leader Justice Complex on St. Croix but instead received a 3.3 percent reduction in funding.
“As a result, the judiciary continues to struggle to meet legislative and other mandates at the expense of other funding priorities — including its critical infrastructure projects,” he said. This year, the judiciary is asking for $4.1 million for the project.
“We have been basically operating lean,” he said while responding to Sen. Hubert Frederick. “Every year, we’ve gotten at least $10 million less than we have asked for, and we have always lived within that — at the expense of ignoring, foregoing actual projects that we need, such as capital projects.”
Hodge said the judiciary has to close buildings, which he described as “not optimal,” at least once a month because of issues with water, air conditioning or something else.
Sen. Novelle Francis Jr., who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said lawmakers have to make some tough decisions amid federal funds and grants being clawed back by the Trump administration and looming health care costs.
During the budget hearing’s next block, University of the Virgin Islands president Safiya George said federal policy changes posed a particular risk to higher education in the form of deep cuts to the U.S. Education Department, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other agencies as well as the targeting of programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. To date, George said, six federal grants totaling approximately $3.5 million have been terminated.
The executive branch recommended a 2026 budget of nearly $35 million. On Thursday, the university requested closer to $50 million in funding, including $39 million to cover general operating expenses like paying salaries.
George testified that previous funding amounts have failed to keep pace with growing participation in many of the university’s programs. Since launching seven years ago, UVI’s free tuition program has grown from 184 to 548 students.
“While this growth signals strong demand and greater access, it also has significantly outpaced available funding,” she said. “The university has not received annually the $3 million appropriation needed to sustain the program, resulting in a critical depletion of reserves.”
George said the university has only received funding three times during the program’s seven-year lifespan, leaving it with less than $2 million.
“Without supplemental support, the free tuition program will likely be unable to continue at current levels” after 2026, she said.