36th Legislature sworn in; senators name committee chairs and press for hospital emergency, oversight and retroactive pay

Members of the 36th Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands were sworn in on Jan. 15 at Fritz Luebets Legislative Hall in St. Croix and immediately set out priorities that lawmakers said will shape the new session: declaring a hospital state of emergency, tightening oversight of recovery projects and addressing unpaid retroactive payments to retirees.

Senator Milton E. Potter, who introduced himself as president of the 36th Legislature, opened the session by thanking central staff and pledging to lead a body focused on improving quality of life for Virgin Islanders. "This is indeed a very special day," Potter said, calling on colleagues to work together on long-running territorial issues such as water and power, housing and health care.

The new legislature moved quickly to organize. A procedural motion limiting points of personal privilege to three minutes was made by Senator Kurt A. Viola and seconded by Senator Kenneth L. Gittens; the motion was adopted with "hearing no objections, so ordered." President Potter and other senators then announced committee chairs for the session.

Health care and hospital infrastructure featured as a top, specific demand. Senator Ray Fonseca urged immediate executive action, saying, "We need a health state of emergency right now so we can get the hospitals procured." Fonseca, later announced as chair of the committee on health, hospitals and human services, said procurement, design and construction for major hospital projects — including upgrades to the territory's primary hospitals and clinics — will total "almost $2,000,000,000 just with those 3 items." He added that federal disaster-recovery funding totals discussed at the meeting ranged from $15 billion to $17 billion and warned that slow spending rates would leave the territory unable to use the money in a reasonable timeframe.

Legal and fiscal accountability also surfaced in opening remarks. Senator Kenneth L. Gittens, the legislature's vice president, said there should be "no pay raises to top level government officials at this time until we could get the landscape of our territory back on par," and signaled legal scrutiny of a previous action: a legal opinion he said concluded "Act 8384 was null and void" because a commission failed to meet statutory timing requirements for a report. Gittens said the legislature would pursue accountability and, if necessary, litigation over improperly processed actions.

Other lawmakers emphasized oversight and implementation rather than only new appropriations. Senator Marvin Blyden called for more aggressive follow-up and said committees would hold agencies to timelines, noting the territory has a backlog of projects and a declining population that has eroded the tax base. "We have kinda given ourselves a 60 day window to bring about some change," Blyden said, urging the new chairs to press agencies for concrete timelines.

Senators also used the organizational session to announce committee leadership. Among the chair appointments announced by the presiding officers: - Angel L. Boulkes: Committee on Culture, Youth, Aging and Parks - Hubert L. Frederick: Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture - Carla J. Joseph: Committee on Rules and Judiciary - Noel E. Francis Jr.: Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance - Clifford Joseph Sr.: Committee on Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety - Ray Fonseca: Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services - Maurice C. James: Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning - Marvin Blyden: Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications - Kurt A. Viola: Committee on Education and Workforce Development - Avery L. Lewis: Committee on Government Operations

Those chair assignments were announced from the floor by the presiding officers; the transcript does not record separate confirmation votes for each chair. The legislature also completed a roll call that showed 14 members present with Senator Dwayne M. De Graaf recorded as absent.

Speakers repeatedly framed the session as a call to implementation. Several senators pointed to unfinished projects — from road work to stadiums and pools — and said past declarations of emergencies had not produced results because of weak oversight and poor execution. Senator Ray Fonseca warned of hospital modular units reaching the end of their useful life and of complications for dialysis patients; he and others urged funding for cancer care so patients would not have to leave the territory.

The session closed after final remarks and the president adjourned the commemorative organizational meeting. No formal bills, ordinances or votes on policy measures were recorded during the session; the day’s business centered on oaths, recognitions, committee appointments and opening policy statements by senators about the 36th Legislature’s priorities.

The new legislature's next steps, as outlined in remarks from multiple members, include committee oversight hearings on project timelines and budget follow-ups, examination of executive actions that members say may be procedurally flawed, and pressing the governor's office for a hospital state of emergency that senators say is needed to accelerate procurement and construction work on health facilities.