Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. restated his commitment to working with whoever occupies the White House during a weekly Government House briefing Monday and sought to reassure Virgin Islanders concerned about a dizzying array of federal policy announcements, firings and funding freezes.
“Now understandably, these developments have stirred unease and anxiety about what these shifts mean for the day-to-day lives of families and individuals who live here in the Virgin Islands,” he said. “I want every Virgin Islander within the sound of my voice to know one thing for sure: I hear your concerns. As a matter of fact, I share them, and my administration is not only tracking these changes but is actively engaged at every level to ensure that the priorities are being placed on the Virgin Islanders all the time and that we remain front and center of all of the conversations that are going on in Washington.”
Underscoring the point, Bryan said he has personally reached out to key Trump administration officials, including U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and others to “lay out the unique challenges that we face in the Virgin Islands — and to call for partnership, not neglect.”
It’s not clear whether the U.S. Virgin Islands were centered — or even considered — in a proposal the U.S. Trade Representative issued last month to impose hefty fees on any Chinese-built vessel calling on a U.S. port, regardless of where that vessel is flagged. The territory is almost entirely dependent on imported food and goods, and the proposed fees would almost certainly be passed on to consumers.
Monday’s briefing coincided with the first of two public hearings the USTR held on the matter. Asked whether the U.S. Virgin Islands might be exempted from the fees, Bryan said Monday that the territory’s lobbyists in Washington D.C. are “fully engaged,” and the Virgin Islands government is working with its cargo partners throughout the region and on the U.S. mainland.
Bryan noted that the policy would likely concentrate trade on larger ports. St. Thomas, he said, serves as a “major reloading” point for cruise ships, and the territory has made efforts to expand that operation — including by taking over the dilapidated former Addelita Cancryn Middle School.
“And all of that cargo space we’re making, all of that is in jeopardy if we can’t — if we get those tariffs done,” he said. “But I haven’t seen anybody who’s for this except the president. And whatever his foreign policy is predicated on to get this done, I do not know. But hopefully it works out in the long run for all of us.”
Whether the proposed fee hikes are implemented or not, Virgin Islanders could still find themselves spending more in the years ahead. On Monday, Bryan called on the 36th Legislature to join him in exploring a “modest” tax on internet sales, saying the territory is “at a place where we can help our people by shifting policy and also get the benefit of increased revenue.
“We can create sustainability for the kind of services our people need and deserve,” he said. “Because if we are serious about ensuring we can attract and retain teachers at reasonable wages and provide them with someplace to live, staffing our hospitals with appropriate health care professionals if we’re serious about providing uncompensated care to the mentally ill and the indigent, fixing our neighborhood roads and ensuring our seniors are safe and provider for, then we also must be serious about being creative about how we fund those critical services.”
Bryan equated the tax to “$5 for every $100” spent online and said the proposal is about restoring fairness to the local economy.
“Local Virgin Islands businesses lose ground to online giants … whose sales go without being taxed, while our small businesses carry the burden of you and I in our time of need,” he said. “That imbalance cannot continue.”
Bryan also addressed H-1B visas — which would allow employers to import specialized and skilled foreign workers needed to complete the territory’s myriad disaster recovery projects — and said he needed to check with Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett about the status of legislation she introduced to lift restrictions on the visas.
Plaskett introduced the Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act in January, and it has yet to be taken up by the House Judiciary Committee.
Bryan sought to end Monday’s briefing with a message of optimism and highlighted the territory’s booming tourism sector ahead of this year’s Seatrade conference.
V.I. Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte was reportedly tapped to lead the West Indian Company during the Public Finance Authority-owned company’s February board meeting. Asked whether Boschulte had accepted the job — and whether a search for his replacement had commenced — Bryan said Monday that Boschulte “has not accepted or declined at this point.”
Bryan said one of his reasons for attending this year’s Seatrade “is to ensure all our partners that … whether Commissioner Boschulte is at WICO, or he’s at the Port Authority, the Virgin Islands government is going to continue to engage the way it can and follow the path that he has carved out for us over the last six or seven years here.”
