Legislation proposed by Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen to establish a chief financial officer for the Virgin Islands passed the Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday morning by unanimous consent, the delegate announced in a press release.
House Resolution 85 requires the governor of the Virgin Islands to appoint a chief financial officer with the advice and consent of the Legislature. It is a proposal the congresswoman has been advocating for 10 years.
“I am pleased that this legislation, which has been much requested by the people of the Virgin Islands, has passed the Resources Committee for the fifth time,” Christensen said. “It has repeatedly passed the House as well, although our governors have sought to oppose them when they are presented in the Senate,” she said.
Both Gov. Charles Turnbull, when he was in office, and Gov. John deJongh Jr. have opposed the bill.
“This bill is neither colonial or paternal, as has been claimed, but an attempt to bring greater transparency and accountability to the financial management and fiscal practices of the government of the Virgin Islands,” Christensen said.
The delegate said HR 85 seeks to end the acrimony and mistrust among different branches of V.I. government and the public at large and provides for revenue projections from a highly qualified person.
“I have never offered this bill as a solution to our fiscal problems. I am pursuing other avenues on that front, but I believe that it can improve transparency and trust in our budgetary and fiscal practices,” she said.
DeJongh, meanwhile, remains opposed. A year ago he testified before Congress that the CFO bill "misses the mark” in its diagnosis of the problems faced by the government and creates a false illusion of fixing them.
The bill "would reduce the authority of the governor and the legislature to make tough budgetary decisions and place such authority in the hands of an unelected official accountable to no one,” deJongh said.
