It was anything but a blue Monday for Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg as the full Senate overwhelmingly passed his bills calling for the first rate investigation of the V.I. Telephone Corp. (now Innovative Telephone) in almost a decade and petitioning the U.S. Congress to make the V.I. attorney general an elected post.
The telephone rate investigation passed by a vote of 13 to 1, but not before being sliced in half by an amendment put forth by Sen. Norma Pickard Samuel. The amendment struck the second section of the bill removing telecommunications industries from the list of those approved for tax benefits under the Economic Development Authority.
Donastorg said striking the section would legitimize the "consolidation" of the phone company with the other subsidiaries of parent company Innovative, making such a rate investigation more difficult. But Samuel said the language of the section in fact gave Innovative Telephone, which already enjoys tax benefits, an unfair advantage over competitors that do not.
Even though the bill as voted on was truncated, Donastorg called its passage "a tremendous victory for the consumers of this territory." The bill states that a preliminary rate investigation by Georgetown Consulting Group showed that ratepayers may be owed as much as $50 million.
Sen. Vargrave Richards voted against the bill, and Sen. David Jones was absent for the vote.
The bill for an elected attorney general passed by a vote of 13 to 2, with Richards and Jones voting no. Donastorg characterized the bill as "landmark legislation" that reflected the will of the people of the Virgin Islands, who supported the move in a 1998 referendum.
The attorney general is presently appointed by the governor; Iver Stridiron holds the position, and more than one senator expressed the hope that Stridiron would eventually be the territory's first elected attorney general.
But the present process has been assailed recently, particularly as regards investigations of public corruption. Donastorg said electing the attorney general will make the post more independent and help restore faith in government accountability.
Donastorg was less pleased with the fate Monday of his bill that would reduce the size of the Legislature from 15 to 9. After a number of delays and motions by Donastorg to have the proposal brought to the floor, it was sent back to the Committee on Government Operations, Planning and Environmental Protection.
An obviously frustrated Donastorg said the move constituted "abuse."
"You guys have really conducted surgery here today," he said. "You have violated every parliamentary procedure, violated my constitutional right to fairness, in sending this bill back." He reiterated that V.I. residents had supported reducing the size of the Legislature by a huge margin in a November 2000 referendum.
In other action Monday, the Senate approved resolutions:
– To express the Legislature's opposition to former President Bill Clinton's proclamations enlarging and modifying the Buck Island Reef National Monument and establishing the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument
– To honor and commend the efforts of Virgin Islanders United, Inc. for its members' work in developing pride and unity among Virgin Islanders residing in New York.
