Senate Struggles to Assert Independence From Bryan, Admits Electric Bills Must be Paid

Members of the 35th Legislature on Tuesday held a press conference at the Earl B. Ottley Legislative chambers, an event meant to show a united, strong stance against what lawmakers perceived as Governor Albert Bryan's hasty, unilateral decision to declare a WAPA-related state of emergency.

But the press briefing turned into an exercise that brought to the fore cracks in the body's attempt at a common position against Governor Bryan on the WAPA issue.

The event was also simulcast at the Legislature on St. Croix. It saw several senators — among them Senate President Novelle Francis, Finance Chair Sen. Donna Frett-Gregory, Minority Leader Sen. Dwayne DeGraff, and Majority Leader Sen. Kenneth Gittens — all providing comment rebuking Mr. Bryan's decision to use at least $11 million from the Budget Stabilization Rainy Day Fund to pay WAPA suppliers and electric debt owed to the authority from the Juan F. Luis Hospital, the Schneider Regional Medical Center, and the V.I. Waste Management Authority. The debt obligation included $2.3 million owed to Aggreko, which eliminated a looming threat of rotating power outages on St. Croix.

The senators chastised Mr. Bryan for announcing the state of emergency, and Sen. Francis contended that he only declared an emergency to circumvent legislative approval. The Consortium pointed out to Mr. Francis that a full day had passed since the emergency declaration, yet the Senate's legal counsel had not issued an opinion on whether Mr. Bryan was contravening local law by utilizing the rainy day fund through the declaration. "There are some issues that need to be further researched and a determination made," he said.