Clean Water Discussion Boils Over as Senate Weighs in on Federal Disaster Relief Spending

In March 2021, President Joseph Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law, which would provide $1.9 trillion in federal funding to states and territories with the aim of providing coronavirus relief.

Out of the massive $1.9 trillion the federal government allocated to the states and territories, the U.S. Virgin Islands expected to benefit from $547 million in federal funding for local initiatives. As a point of perspective, the USVI’s total budget for 2022 amounted to just over $924 million.

As of the year’s end, the Government of the USVI has received just over $531 million of that federal funding, yet lawmakers in the legislative branch have struggled to gain insight on how the administration of Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has handled that money.

After repeated attempts to weigh in on how the government uses those funds, lawmakers finally received a chance to examine the Bryan Administration’s use of ARPA funding during a meeting of the Committee of Disaster Recovery and Infrastructure (CDRI) held in (St. Thomas) on Jan. 12th.

“For the public’s consumption,” said Chairwoman of the Committee, Senator Janelle K. Sarauw. “We have been trying to have this meeting since June.”

Over the course of the next six months, the Governor’s office avoided five attempts by the Legislative Branch to oversee how the government handles over half a billion in federal funding. On Monday, two days before the CDRI committee probed representatives of the Executive Branch, the governor told the VI Consortium it would challenge any attempts to legislate how the USVI spends ARPA funding.

“The Senate can have hearings and ask us what we are doing and we have been totally transparent with them, they can look at the plan and make suggestions, but the bottom line is the federal government is the one that regulates that money coming into the treasury,” Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. told the VI Consortium.

As members of the CDRI committee dissected the spending plan last week during a legislative session, which covers healthcare, housing and infrastructure, some of that resistance spilled into the session when lawmakers attempted to advise on the responsible usage of the historically large revenue infusion.

For instance, the Territory stands to gain an estimated $163 million for infrastructure projects related to clean water, sewage systems and broadband improvements under parameters set forth by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. While those parameters would, in many cases, bring welcome improvements to the Territory at large, lawmakers hoped to tailor the funding to projects that meet more specific local needs.

While supporting the idea of larger infrastructure upgrades, Senator Alma Francis Heyliger pointed out that many homes and businesses in the Virgin Islands utilize cisterns and other methods that fall outside of the main infrastructure grid and hoped to bring even a modicum of relief to operators of those systems.

“Our reality is right now quite a bit of the homes have cisterns as well as their own sewage system,” said Senator Francis Heyliger. “That would exclude almost a whole group of people in the Territory if we are only spending money on other aspects of it.”

Jennifer O’ Neal, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, challenged the senator to offer suggestions on how the government can address such private needs as cisterns or pumps.

“Tell us how or what exactly you would like for us to do with cisterns because I really don’t know what, from a government perspective, we can do for private cisterns,” said. Director O’Neal. “So give us your suggestions for that so we can take that into consideration.”

In response, Sen. Francis Heyliger said she would be happy to share her plans and proceeded to point out several options and noted how the spending plans had already incorporated relief for the private sector.

“Simple things like maybe providing filters to homes for providing clean drinking water. Maybe providing funding for or shipping in pumps. Maybe providing for the cleaning of cisterns,” Sen. Francis Heyliger listed. “There’s a lot of things that could be done in regards to this funding that does not necessarily have to be limited to just the things I see here that are only directed to the either the government or public sector.”

Seemingly displeased with Sen. Francis Heyliger’s response, Director O’Neal suggested that the senator offer her suggestions on the government’s web-site.

“On OMB’s web-site, there is a section for community feedback,” O’Neal said. “We welcome all community feedback. Please go to the web-site and send us your suggestions and we will gladly take that into consideration.”

Sen. Francis Heyliger understandably took exception to Director O’Neal’s suggestion and reminded the director that she was an elected representative of the Territory acting in an official capacity during a legislative inquiry of government officials.

“And what?” Director O’Neal responded. “What do you want us to do? Submit your feedback and we will be glad to take it into account.”

At that point, the committee’s Chairwoman, Senator Janelle K. Sarauw attempted to intervene and soothe both sides of the impassioned discussion but the testimony from Director O’Neal still drew a swift and strong response from Sen. Francis Heyliger when she resumed her allotted time.

“When I am hearing suggestions that I, as an elected official, that’s sitting here and asking questions should go to a website and submit suggestions when I’m sitting right here and asking questions, I think that’s a little disrespectful. But that is from my perspective,” said Sen. Francis Heyliger. “At the end of the day, I will continue with my line of questioning.”

Earlier, the senator had noted that she had at least 42 questions heading into her first, ten minute round of questioning with the collection of representatives from the Executive branch. Yet with a minute left, Sen. Francis Heyliger attempted to touch on other pressing issues such as broadband internet access and digital literacy.

Similarly, senators had a variety of questions that touched on spending of the federal coronavirus relief funds, which of course, related to the management of COVID-19 in the Territory, but also covered the outstanding and wide ranging issues such as homlessness and home repairs that date back to the disastrous hurricanes of 2017.

Ultimately, the body of senators seemingly agreed that the government’s use of the funds required further input from the legislative branch, especially as it pertains to local issues such as infrastructure. The hearing trickled back into the issue of clean water funding on multiple occasions.

“Back to this water discussion,” said Senator Sarauw. As she consulted with multiple tablets and screens, Sen. Sarauw cited a report from the Navajo Nation, which informed the federal government of non-traditional infrastructure needs and pertain more to rural environments.

“The federal government wouldn’t know it if you don’t ask for it,” said Sen. Sarauw. “And our system does not look like the metropolitan cities of the United States. And I think what the senator [Francis Heyliger] was alluding to and what I believe she was alluding to was that various areas of the country are rural. And they’re making the requests based on their geographic makeup.”

Sen. Sarauw would go on to cite the Navajo Nation’s successful request of the federal government to utilize ARPA disaster relief funding to support residential cistern and septic system projects.

“We need to go back and make the appeal because a majority of the population reside in homes that have cisterns.”

Sen. Sarauw would implore the agents of the Executive branch to “recalibrate” their thinking when it came to the application of federal funding, a sentiment echoed by several senators including Senator Javan E. James as he seamlessly segued the discussion during his round of questioning.

“I really want to make sure that when it comes to our infrastructure that we are improving it, So in the name of transparency, I’m asking that when the dust settles and we reach an agreement on what we’re going to use these funds for if we could just have an overall plan so it won’t be all this whole back and forth,” said Senator Javan James. “I know that every moment isn’t going to be Kumbya in the Legislature because this is a deliberative body and we have to do our due diligence. But I want to make sure that when it comes to our infrastructure that we do it right for years to come."