The territory may start using prison inmates for road work and government building repairs if a bill special ordered onto the agenda and approved by the Legislature on Thursday becomes law.
The bill sponsored by Sen. Myron Jackson adds repairs of government buildings to the list of projects Public Works is required to seek inmate labor for. It also requires "to the extent practicable" Public Works to use nonviolent “prison inmate workforce for all road projects, cemetery maintenance, waterways, drainage, and maintenance and repairs of government buildings." [Bill 30-350]
Jackson moved to have the bill special ordered onto the session agenda so there were no hearings, testimony or debate on the merits or potential downsides – from insurance to paying for security – that could arise. Introducing it, Jackson said it would help rehabilitate young offenders and give them job skills they could use once they are released. Senators broadly agreed, mentioning the job and training value of the labor.
The Legislature also special ordered, and then approved, a bill appropriating $2 million from the Education Initiative Fund to purchase new textbooks. Jackson, Sens. Janette Millin Young and Kenneth Gittens sponsored the bill, which also devotes 80 percent of the balance in that fund for textbooks in perpetuity. [Bill 30-496]
Education Commissioner Donna Frett-Gregory testified during budget hearings and other committee hearings that the department needs funding for new textbooks and would be requesting legislation to that effect.
Both bills were approved with 14 of the 15 senators voting yes. Sen. Diane Capehart was absent, out sick with chikungunya.
There will also be a new category of casino license, if a measure proposed during session by Sen. Nereida "Nellie" Rivera-O’Reilly becomes law. The new "Category IV" license would be for hotels with at least 75 new or "renovated" rooms and located within the historic districts of Christiansted or Frederiksted. The casino would be required to make Enterprise Zone financial contributions. The new casino category was enacted as an amendment to a bill to rename the Industrial Development Program as the Economic Development Program and to update the Economic Development Program Law.
This is too funny,those crooks and slave drivers are trying get away from creating jobs,so they don’t have to pay people from their free money ,given by the u.s.
Who the hell want’s to see orange jumpsuited people in their eye sight everyday ,when there are people who are free and not in prison dying to get a work.
So it comes down to this.To get a job u have to go to jail !!!
When you are starving and have no place to bath and nobody will hire you.your best solution would be to go to prison.
Even though you’d be working for free,at least you will receive free bedding,showers,meals and work.just look out for the violent inmates and the lifers who aren’t afraid to kill over the wrong looks. smh !!
Government need to clean house ,all these faces that’s been there more than ten years need to go ! .now they are old minded and have pocketed enough millions .get some young people with fresh minds and new ideas in government.we’re in the age of technology and these crumbs don’t even understand or know what to do .st.croix’s run under and old regime, people with the 1980’s mind frame and it’s not working .this is the future 2014
Hell they don’t even know how to preserve culture.so their not even good at the old way of things.
Look at independent small island countries with higher poverty levels that do not get free millions from no big country,have way more groth and development and are more echnologically advanced than the U.S. Virgin Islands !..even decent cellular phone service u can get on a bigger poorer island.but a little ,flat island like st.croix u can Barely get cellular phone service.always poor signal,dropped call kmt
The government does help the locals with their endeavors.their too busy trying skim money with fabricated contracts.
Why do I think that this will never work (pun intended). And why do I think they’ll waste more time looking for the ones that got away.