36th Legislature overrides vetoes, raises government minimum salary to $35,000 and approves leases, licenses and social-policy bills

The 36th Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands on June 27 voted to override two vetoes from the governor and approved a set of lease agreements, resolutions and bills aimed at disaster readiness, social services and school funding.

The most consequential action came when legislators voted to override the governor’s veto of bill 36-0053, raising the minimum annual salary for full-time government employees from $27,040 to $35,000 and requiring the Office of Management and Budget to report on fiscal impacts. Senator V.A. introduced the override motion; after a roll call the House adopted the override and the clerk announced the measure becomes law notwithstanding the governor’s veto.

Senators framed the vote as a response to cost-of-living pressures on public workers. “We are committed to a more equitable and sustainable standard of living for a government workforce,” Senator Noville E. Francis Jr., chair of the Budget Committee, said during his committee report, citing budget hearings and the review process for FY2026.

The Legislature also sustained a second override (bill 36-0085) to bar the automatic implementation of salary adjustments recommended by the Public Officials Compensation Commission. That bill will require a further review and the return of any automatically distributed increases to the general fund if necessary.

On infrastructure and public safety, senators approved two lease agreements: bill 36-0062 authorizes a lease with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for use of a portion of a telecommunications tower at Estate Nazareth in Red Hook, St. Thomas, and bill 36-0098 approves leasing a portion of an existing helipad on St. John to Caribbean Buzz LLC to operate helicopter transport services. Senator Ray Fana urged support for the NOAA lease, saying the equipment “would save lives, protect property, and improve the Territory’s readiness to face weather conditions.” The tower lease passed (majority recorded in roll call), as did the helipad lease after senators debated neighborhood concerns and emergency-response benefits.

Legislators also approved a package of public-safety and social-policy bills in Block Two: - 36-0012: Streamlines the Government Employees’ Retirement System (GRS) disability annuity approval procedures to reduce delays for disabled government workers; passed by roll call. - 36-0024: Adds a statutory rule that a person in police custody is incapable of consenting to sexual relations; Senator Ray Fana successfully added an amendment directing the attorney general to develop a comprehensive sexual-abuse policy for law enforcement within 90 days; bill passed as amended. - 36-0027 (dubbed “Janiqua’s Law”): Requires defendants convicted of negligent vehicular homicide or specified intoxication-related offenses that disable a victim who was a parent or guardian to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance; the legislature approved an amendment to define “dependent with disabilities” and allow maintenance to continue as the court finds reasonable. - 36-0031: Limits liability for public-safety and private entities operating 911 services to cases of gross negligence or willful intent; passed by roll call. - 36-0032: Limits the salary amount used to compute the service retirement annuity for the governor and lieutenant governor; passed in the session. - 36-0035: Implements the federal ABLE (Steven J. Beck Jr.) program to allow tax-advantaged savings accounts for persons with disabilities; passed unanimously.

Block Three included measures to strengthen public health and administrative access: - 36-0043: Increased penalties for violations of sanitation laws, with due-process protections included for hearings and appeals; passed. - 36-0050 and 36-0051: Repeal and reenact Title 27 provisions and establish the Virgin Islands Board of Social Work Licensure to modernize regulation of social workers; both measures were approved. - 36-0057: Requires automatic expungement of arrest records when an accused is acquitted; senators said the change eases barriers to employment and education and passed the bill. - 36-0064: Aligns dispersal and spending limitations from the Education Initiative Fund to give principals greater flexibility to spend funds in ways the legislation says should “maximize student success”; the bill passed.

During floor debate, senators expressed both support and concern. Some members urged caution about neighborhood impacts of the NOAA tower and reiterated the need for responsible siting and community outreach; others argued that improved weather monitoring and helicopter access were vital emergency-response capabilities. Several senators who supported the wage override urged complementary actions to support the private sector and to track fiscal impacts closely.

What happens next: Bills approved by the Legislature will be forwarded to the governor for consideration or, where the Legislature acted notwithstanding a veto, are recorded as becoming law by the action of the body. Several items — notably the subpoenas and the rescheduled oversight hearing for the Paulie Joseph Stadium project — will return to committee for continued oversight.

Votes at a glance (selected floor outcomes): - Override: bill 36-0053 (raise government minimum salary to $35,000) — override passed; recorded 15 yays; became law notwithstanding veto. - Override: bill 36-0085 (prevent automatic implementation of compensation commission recommendations) — override passed; recorded 15 yays; became law notwithstanding veto. - NOAA tower lease: bill 36-0062 — approved (roll call result recorded on floor). - Caribbean Buzz helipad lease: bill 36-0098 — approved (roll call result recorded on floor). - GRS disability annuity streamlining: bill 36-0012 — approved. - Consent incapacity while in custody (with AG policy amendment): bill 36-0024 — approved as amended. - Janiqua’s Law (restitution for negligent vehicular homicide affecting dependents): bill 36-0027 — approved as amended. - 911 liability limits: bill 36-0031 — approved. - Governor/lt. gov. pension computation limit: bill 36-0032 — approved. - ABLE/Steven J. Beck Jr. implementation: bill 36-0035 — approved. - Sanitation-penalty increases: bill 36-0043 — approved. - Social work licensure reforms and Board establishment: bills 36-0050, 36-0051 — approved. - Automatic expungement on acquittal: bill 36-0057 — approved. - Education Initiative Fund spending alignment: bill 36-0064 — approved.

Quotes (representative): - "We are committed to a more equitable and sustainable standard of living for a government workforce," Senator Noville E. Francis Jr. said in describing budget deliberations and the rationale for the minimum-salary override. - "This bill would save lives, protect property, and improve the Territory’s readiness to face weather conditions," Senator Ray Fana said in urging approval of the NOAA tower lease to improve local weather monitoring.

The session scheduled additional oversight (a rescheduled stadium construction hearing on July 18) and left several longstanding items for committee follow-up. The Legislature also amended one resolution (honoring the late Sonia How) to reflect her passing and to make the recognition posthumous. The body recessed at intervals during the day but completed three blocks of deliberation and multiple roll-call votes on June 27.

Provenance: The summary above is drawn from the floor transcript, chiefly the opening and committee reports (SEG 357–633), the override motions and votes (SEG 1535–1552; SEG 1547–1552), the lease debates and votes (SEG 1649–1763; SEG 2721–2782; SEG 2785–2845), Block Two readings and votes (SEG 3456–3560; SEG 4450–4492; SEG 4598–4687), and Block Three readings and votes (SEG 5212–5239; SEG 5590–5669).