Through 2016, any long-time V.I. Government employee will be able to take two years off work, with the government paying full health insurance and pension contributions for the jobs that are not being performed, if an amendment the Senate approved without debate Thursday becomes law.
Sen. Alicia “Chucky” Hansen proposed the measure as an amendment to the last bill being considered Thursday – a bill from Sen. Craig Barshinger that changes the way the time for retired government employees collecting their pensions is calculated when they return to government jobs after retirement.
Currently they are allowed to work 75 days, but the bill changes that to 600 hours, which equals eight hours a day times 75 days, to give departments and the retirees greater flexibility. Another amendment limited these provisions to a two-year span of time. The underlying bill was vetted in committee and was unopposed by the V.I. Division of Personnel.
Hansen’s amendment has no relation to the subject of the bill, which is how many hours retirees may work while receiving their pensions. It makes the terms of an emergency budget act passed in 2011 more generous and obligates the government to pay health insurance and pension contributions for people who are not actually working for the government.
Act 7261, signed into law in July 2011, enacted government pay cuts, retirement incentives and other emergency budget items aimed at reducing the need for layoffs during a budget crisis. (See related links below)
It stipulated that any employee who has accumulated five or more years of government service may take up to two years, but not less than one year of voluntary leave without pay “for any purpose whatsoever without losing seniority and shall have the right to return to his employment.”
The law – passed as a temporary, emergency measure – created an incentive for employees to take a leave of absence in order to reduce involuntary layoffs due to budget constraints. To that end, the 2011 law required employees taking advantage of this benefit giveaway to “return to work on or before October 1, 2013.”
Hansen’s amendment extends this automatic two-year leave with government-paid benefits until Oct. 1, 2016, creating an obligation for the government to pay an unknown amount in employer and employee health and pension contributions for employees who are not actually performing any work.
Along with holding nonworking employees’ jobs and seniority for up to two years, it requires the government to pay not just the employer contribution for health insurance and retirement pensions, but also the employees’ own contributions.
Sen. Craig Barshinger initially objected to the amendment, saying he did not “think this is germane to the bill before us, which is very narrow.”
Hansen responded that “government services means anything government,” and so any measure that relates to government is germane to any bill that relates to government in any way.
The amendment refers to itself as “a housekeeping measure.” Legislatively, a housekeeping measure is a term for a technical change or technical amendment that has no substantive effect, such as costing money or changing the meaning of the law. Changing punctuation and correcting grammar are examples of housekeeping measures.
“I would hate to vote yes to change something on a bill that has been thoroughly vetted like this and add something new to the law,” Barshinger said. “I would like to ask legal counsel if this is truly a housekeeping measure, as stated in the amendment, or if it is really a larger issue,” Barshinger said.
“This is, in fact, a housekeeping measure,” legislative legal counsel Augustin Ayala said when asked for his professional opinion as an attorney. Ayala did not elaborate or explain his legal reasoning for concluding the measure was merely housekeeping and had no substantive effect.
Barshinger withdrew his objection to Hansen’s amendment, citing Ayala’s legal conclusion.
The Senate approved Hansen’s giveaway amendment without objection, and the Senate approved the bill as amended, 14 to 0, with Sen. Donald Cole absent.
Good Grief!
Are we not already overburdened with debt?
Where is the money going to come to pay for this folly and obligate the government to pay health insurance and pension contributions for people who are not actually working for the government?
There are way too many people on the Government payroll that are already getting paid for not working or doing their jobs.
“Giveaway” our money when we are already reeling from our high costs of living, WAPA, have businesses that are going under right and left due to it, the government is borrowing money to beat the band which at some point MUST be repaid and they continue to GIVE AWAY our tax dollars?
I am incensed and you should be too!
This should not be a surprise to anyone, the continued business as usual operation of the VI government will forever be the death of the islands especially Stx. Not only do they want to pay benefits for people who are not providing any level of service they also want to extend their terms from 2 years to 4 so they can get paid while everyone else supports them. The excuse for this is that it costs too much to have elections every 2 years and that they need more time to do their jobs. No what they want is 2 more years of a government paycheck to go along with their early retirement package that they provided themselves years ago. People are losing their jobs and moving away at a rampant pace because of the status quo of the VI government. What does it take for people to see that these individuals are not serving anyone but themselves year after year.
And this is why Senator Hansen is your leading vote getter. She knows she’s in trouble with her rape comments so let me buy them back with unaffordable government money. Never Fails.
Business as usual.
Absolutely NO FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY shown by these elected officials and they want to add 2 more years to their terms? The sooner they all get booted out of office, the better!
Plus they want anyone working for the Gov. to remain on payroll while running for office?
This is pandering for votes and more wasting of our hard-earned money.
The majority of the public and private sectors actually have to work and be productive in order to be gainfully employed and receive a paycheck. Not so with the VI Government and while unsurprising it is disgusting.
The VI has long been a bastion of corruption and ignorance. As a Native Virgin Islander I left in disgust as I personally witnessed a few “royal families” and their cronies suck up the sweets and do nothing for the average citizen in the form of opportunity for growth and personal development. Murderers have been issued pardons, and convicted felons given high paying government jobs. Every two years the same company is given the contract to conduct the local elections even though it is supposed to be an open bidding process. The Governor himself is still responsible for reimbursement of monies spent to supposedly improve his personal home so that “his security and safety would be assured. We were told that he would pay the so called depreciated value; who determines the level of depreciation? What about the safety of the average citizen? God left the VI long ago, and that is why I did as well. Good luck to all of you who can not leave that horrible place….