Office of the Governor seeks $14.39 million for FY2026; lawmakers press on vacancies, health IT and gun‑violence programs

Deputy Chief of Staff Kevin Rodriguez presented the Office of the Governor’s FY2026 budget request to the Legislature’s Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance on July 23, asking for a total of $14,387,494. The request includes $12,812,494 from the general fund, $1,275,000 for miscellaneous and special activities, and $300,000 from the tourism revolving fund.

Rodriguez and division directors summarized planned work and funding: the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) requested $703,092 (including $300,000 from the tourism revolving fund) to expand data collection, complete household surveys and update forecasting tools; the Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) requested $868,206 (general fund plus miscellaneous) for prevention, survivor engagement and community outreach; and the Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) requested funding to advance a territory health information exchange (HIE) and related digital health initiatives. The territorial Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator described ongoing site visits, training and accessible‑beach projects.

Personnel and vacancies were a central point of debate. The governor’s presentation said the office employs 96 people (80 filled positions, 16 vacancies) across Government House sites and the divisions. Personnel costs for FY2026 were presented at $6,602,292 (51.5% of the proposed budget) with fringe benefits at $2,640,576. Committee members repeatedly asked whether positions included in the FY2026 request were budgeted at 50% or 100% of the year and whether the department could afford planned hires given current allotments. Director Joycelyn J. Durrant said the office expected to fill six vacancies in the near term and that some positions were budgeted at 100% while others were budgeted at 50% to reflect phased onboarding.

Senators also pressed on several program and financial details:

- Credit‑card and vendor payments: Post‑audit appendices showed a large sum coded to credit‑card charges; staff explained that the Department of Finance had grouped multiple card uses into a single object code and that cards are reconciled monthly. Officials said the office maintains six credit cards (holders include the governor, chief of staff, deputy chief, director of business and administration, director of executive security, and a special project coordinator).

- Health IT and HIE funding: OHIT Director Michelle Francis said the office secured $1.3 million in federal grant funding to support EHR upgrades and HIE connectivity, but warned that federal funding and Medicaid matching rules remain uncertain and that local funding would be needed to sustain the HIE. Francis said additional legislation (a health data utility) and roughly $1 million per year would be required for full implementation and long‑term sustainability.

- Bureau of Economic Research: Director Haldine Davies outlined priorities including updating the GDP series, completing a household income and expenditure survey and studying a territorial health‑insurance feasibility. Davies said the bureau expects to bring the GDP series current by the end of the calendar year.

- Office of Gun Violence Prevention: Executive Director Antonio Emmanuel reported OGVP had engaged surviving families in roughly 90% of recent homicide cases (20 of 23 homicides cited during the hearing) and described prevention programming, school curricula and outreach work. Senators pressed for written job specs and training backgrounds for survivor‑engagement staff; Emmanuel said the current team includes people with counseling and pastoral experience.

Members asked for further documentation—detailed vacancy plans, itemized incumbency requests, reconciliation of utility and credit‑card figures, and a breakdown of the $1,275,000 miscellaneous request that funds public events, Government Access Channel and youth programs. Rodriguez and division directors agreed to provide supplemental detail.

Ending: The committee recessed after asking staff to submit requested breakdowns and clarifications prior to markup.