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Senator Liston Davis Sponsors Bill Proposal to Provide 20 Percent Utility Rate Reduction for the Elderly
Sept. 3, 2005 – Senator Liston Davis, Chair of the Committee on Education, Culture and Youth, said he has tendered a bill request to Legislative Legal Counsel to provide for a 20 percent reduction in the public utility rate for the elderly.
The rate reduction, said Senator Liston Davis, would be applicable to the electricity and water bills of any resident of the Virgin Islands sixty-two years and older.
"Our seniors, especially those on fixed income, have been unable to keep up with the dramatic increases in the cost of living evidenced in the Virgin Islands. This jump in the cost of living facing the aged of our community, includes hike in the price of food and groceries, increases in rent and mortgages, a dramatic jump in WAPA bills, and an upward spiral in the cost of medical services as well as pharmaceuticals", according to the Chair of the Committee on Education, who added that for the most part, our seniors are forced to function under strained economic circumstances and the bill which he has sponsored would grant our elderly a degree of economic relief.
Senator Liston Davis said that he was hoping that his proposed bill to provide seniors with a 20 percent utility rate reduction would garner the support of his colleagues as it makes its way through the legislative process.