Senator Asks Justice To Probe Bryan’s $45 Million Move

Sen. Alma Francis Heyliger is asking the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice to investigate Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s appropriation of $45 million without legislative approval, the senator said Tuesday.

Francis Heyliger is also drafting a resolution condemning Bryan’s actions after the Senate’s legal experts advised that the governor had violated the law.

“The governor went beyond his legal authority,” she said. “The power to control the purse strings lies solely with the Legislature.”

In April, Bryan took $45 million from the General Fund to shore up a deal between the Water and Power Authority and its propane supplier, Vitol. Government House had initially asked the Legislature to approve a $150 million line of credit to help resolve the utility’s long-running dispute with Vitol over infrastructure costs and to temporarily move $45 million from the General Fund. The Legislature removed the $45 million provision from the final bill and reduced the line of credit to $100 million, which was secured last week.

Francis Heyliger bristled at the analogy of a household prioritizing its electric bill over groceries.

“Look at it this way: Your television in your home is broken. You walk into your neighbor’s house and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to borrow your TV.’ You pick it up and go back to your house, use it, and when you purchase one you say, ‘Here, you can have your TV back,’” she said. “Did your neighbor approve you coming into their home? Did your neighbor approve you to take up their television?”

Questions remain as to how the General Fund had an extra $45 million on hand and what projects or payments had to hold for it to be available.