Committee approves FY2026 budget bills, forwards package to rules committee

The Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance voted on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, to advance a package of fiscal year 2026 appropriation bills to the Committee on Rules and Judiciary, approving each measure by recorded roll call.

The measures include line-item and lump-sum appropriations from the general fund and several special funds to finance government operations for the 2026 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2025. The committee chair said the package is the product of 22 committee hearings held over three months and described the bills as the committee's recommended funding plan for the coming year.

Why it matters: These votes move the legislature's budget work forward and package multiple agency budgets and capital funds for further consideration by the Rules and Judiciary Committee and later floor action. The package contains measures that affect payroll, hospital funding, capital-improvement funds for St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, and several special-purpose fund transfers.

Most important actions and context

- The committee read and advanced the block of ten bills first described at the hearing (Block 1). Those measures include appropriations from or contributions to: the Health Revolving Fund (Bill 36-0154); the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Fund (36-0155); the Business and Commercial Properties Revolving Fund (36-0156); the Lottery (36-0157); the District Public Road Fund (36-0158); the Indirect Cost Fund for OMB and central administrative offices (36-0159); the St. Croix and St. Thomas Capital Improvement Funds (36-0160); a $25,500,000 appropriation to the Legislature (36-0161); $20,000,000 from the Virgin Islands Insurance Guarantee Fund to the general fund (36-0162); and funding for the Board of Elections and the Supervisor of Elections (36-0163). Each bill in Block 1 was approved on recorded roll call and ordered sent to Rules and Judiciary for further consideration.

- Block 2 (ten bills) was read and advanced. Notable included bills fund school construction and maintenance (36-0164), an appropriation from the Caribbean Basin Initiative Fund (36-0165), appropriations from the Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund that allocate funds to several agencies including waste management and tourism (36-0166), salaries and expenses for the University of the Virgin Islands (36-0167), and operating budgets for the Virgin Islands Hospital and Health Facilities Corporation (36-0171). These bills were also approved on recorded roll call and forwarded to Rules and Judiciary.

- Block 3 (ten bills and additional items) was read and advanced. Key measures included the general-fund appropriation for the operation of government (36-0174), the Public Services Commission (36-0175), a St. John capital improvement appropriation (36-0176), appropriations for the Virgin Islands Board of Education (36-0177), Transportation Trust Fund transfers and operating budgets for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Department of Public Works (36-0178), and several waste-management and anti-litter appropriations (36-0181 and 36-0182). Two smaller appropriations (36-0186 and 36-0120) were also read and advanced.

Discussion highlights (not formal actions)

Committee members repeatedly praised the post-audit and central staff for the multi-month review; no member proposed amendments that changed final outcomes on the bills considered that day. Several senators emphasized priorities that influenced the package: raising a minimum government salary to $35,000 (a senator cited a personnel-cost estimate of roughly $3.9 million), additional funding for both territorial hospitals (senators described increases of roughly $2.5 million), a $200,000 appropriation for homemaker/home health supports, and a line item to address delayed payments for National Guard personnel (TAD fund). Senator Ray Fonseca noted concerns about group health insurance premium increases and said the coverage question affects roughly 25,000 beneficiaries.

Votes at a glance (committee decision)

- Each bill listed below was voted on favorably in committee and forwarded to Rules and Judiciary for further consideration. For the recorded roll calls shown in the transcript the committee recorded seven yes votes and no recorded no votes on each measure during this session. (The committee motion and second were recorded on the record for each bill; the transcript does not consistently identify a single mover or seconder by name for every motion.)

Block 1 (approved and forwarded): 36-0154; 36-0155; 36-0156; 36-0157; 36-0158; 36-0159; 36-0160; 36-0161; 36-0162; 36-0163. Block 2 (approved and forwarded): 36-0164; 36-0165; 36-0166; 36-0167; 36-0168; 36-0169; 36-0170; 36-0171; 36-0172; 36-0173. Block 3 (approved and forwarded): 36-0174; 36-0175; 36-0176; 36-0177; 36-0178; 36-0179; 36-0180; 36-0181; 36-0182; 36-0186; 36-0120.

What the committee did not do

- The committee did not adopt final, enacted budgets on the floor; each measure was forwarded to Rules and Judiciary for additional consideration and vetting. Where senators raised concerns (insurance, hospital staffing, program funding), those were discussion points on the record but did not change the committee's favorable recommendations during the Sept. 11 session.

Next steps

The forwarded bills will be considered by the Committee on Rules and Judiciary and then may be scheduled for floor action by the full Legislature. The committee chair and members emphasized continued revenue monitoring and the possibility of mid-year modifications if revenues or recovery needs change.

(Reporting note: this summary is based solely on the Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance transcript of Sept. 11, 2025. It includes committee votes and on-the-record discussion; it does not infer or report actions not shown in the transcript.)