As more and more of the contents of the majority-backed Omnibus Bill become public, it is looking less likely that the full 200-plus page bill will make it into law.
Not only are members of the community protesting certain provisions, but Gov. Charles Turnbull will be scrutinizing the bill with an eye toward possibly line-item vetoing some parts of it, according to an aide – assuming it passes the full Legislature.
The Legislature meets Wednesday and Thursday. The goal is to complete its work and adjourn once and for all by the end of the week. The new Legislature is sworn in Jan. 8. But the lame-duck senators have a full slate of unfinished business, including dozens of budget bills and the Omnibus Act.
Last week in committee the majority drastically amended the already comprehensive Omnibus Bill but did not release the amendments. Information began dribbling out early this week.
The measure now contains numerous zoning changes, none of which have gone to the required legislative hearings.
Perhaps the most significant is one that will allow Marriott's Frenchman's Reef to build a time-share development just north of the existing hotel on the hillside sloping down to the sea. In August, Planning and Natural Resources did hold a public hearing on the proposal which was met with considerable opposition from neighboring residents. The resort has since scaled back its original plan from 234 units to 177 units.
Meanwhile, another amendment struck a provision that would have placed a fee on time-share units that was roughly comparable to the 8 percent hotel room tax.
The bill was also amended to eliminate a provision that would have allowed companies receiving industrial incentive benefits to count two part-time employees as one full-time employee for the purpose of meeting the requirement of employing a given number of Virgin Islands residents.
A whole section was added to the bill to put in place a model law governing the U.S. tobacco settlement. According to a letter from the National Association of Attorneys General that was released with the amendment, only American Samoa, Guam, the northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands have failed to enact the model law and it is necessary to protect the territory's share of funds coming from the national settlement.
Other amendments make changes to the unemployment tax rate; lower the rate of interest due on judgments against the government from 9 percent to 4 percent; appropriate $1.7 million in federal reimbursements to various government agencies for Y2K compliance efforts; and add the presiding judge of the Territorial Court to a Peace Officers Standards and Training Council set up by the bill.
Turnbull aide James O'Bryan said Tuesday that "there has been some discussions with the majority" involving some provisions in the Omnibus but others were a surprise.
One of those, O'Bryan said, is a section that would allow hotels to operate ferry services to pick up guests. It has drawn the ire of taxi drivers.
He said there also "are concerns about the Tourism Authority" that the bill would create. A private-public sector entity, it would replace the executive branch Tourism Department.
O'Bryan also noted that labor leaders oppose a provision weakening the Wrongful Discharge Act.
Once the governor receives a bill, he has 10 working days in which to sign it or veto it. If he does neither, the bill automatically becomes law without his signature. In the case of non-appropriations measures, he must accept or reject the entire bill, but if a bill has more than one appropriation, he may line-item veto portions of the legislation that he doesn't like and retain the rest.
Senate Rules Chairwoman Anne Golden had said the Omnibus would be the only budget bill that was not reported out of committee under the closed rule and therefore could be amended in floor debate in session. But that changed along with much of the bill's contents. It goes to the floor in an all-or-nothing consideration.
However, the majority has been careful to ensure that the governor will have more leeway. They have included in the bill two appropriations.
"It's enough flexibility in there so he can decide what he wants and what he doesn't want, and they purposely did it that way," said legislative chief legal counsel Constance Krigger.
If the bill is vetoed in whole or in part, a new legislature will almost certainly decide whether to override any vetoes. "Procedurally" there is no problem with an incoming legislature dealing with such matters left by an outgoing legislature, Krigger said.
Politically, it may be another matter since the lines between majority and minority are expected largely to reverse.