With an amendment hastily tacked onto the tobacco settlement bill, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen on Tuesday made good on her promise to keep Memorial Day a school holiday. The amendment was approved by the Senate Finance Committee.
An Education Department task force last week announced plans to use Memorial Day as a makeup day, compensating for time lost last year, largely due to storms. Hansen vowed to challenge the decision.
When she added the amendment to the bill addressing redistribution of the tobacco settlement funds, Finance Committee Chair Lorraine Berry told Hansen her resolution wasn't "germane" to the proceedings.
Hansen stood her ground, demanding the motion be heard. She said not to observe Memorial Day as a holiday would be an insult to veterans.
The amendment, which passed on a 3-2 vote, states that "all legal holidays outlined in the V.I. Code that were not repealed by Act. No. 0333 … shall remain legal holidays in the Virgin Islands, including Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, and all government offices including the Department of Education shall be closed on those days."
At the end of 1999 four government holidays were eliminated as part of the Omnimbus Act of 1999.
Voting for the amendment were Sens. Hansen, Berry and Roosevelt David. Sens. V. Anne Golden and George Goodwin opposed it.
