Bolques Roasted by Colleagues, Forced to Withdraw Governors' Day Bill, Measure to Name National Dish

Proposed legislation to create official recognition for governors of the Virgin Islands was withdrawn by its sponsoring lawmaker.

Bill 35-0075, which would designate the third Monday in February as Virgin Islands Governor’s Day, faced significant opposition when it came up for debate in the Committee of the Whole’s legislative session on Thursday.

Senator Alma Francis Heyligher was scathing in her criticism of the proposed measure, which was brought forward by Senator Angel Bolques Jr. “I don’t know if the author knows his worth, but we are all co-equal branches of government,” she declared. She also noted that while the third Monday in February is colloquially known as President’s Day, the legal holiday is specifically to celebrate the birthday of one former president – George Washington. “Unfortunately, when I tried to share my thoughts with the author that Presidents' Day does not exist, he wasn’t even aware…so even the way this law is written is incorrect.”

Drafting errors notwithstanding, Ms. Francis-Heyliger also expressed her philosophical objections to the measure. “We are public servants to the people,” she said, arguing that the leaders of the three co-equal branches of government do not need any special thanks or recognition to do their jobs. “We don’t have a problem with honoring people when they’ve done something,” the senator said, noting that former Governor Cyril E. King’s birthday is celebrated “because we hand-picked a governor that was exceptional.” She objected, however, to doing it across the board. “I am vehemently opposed to this piece of legislation.”