Bryan defends public officials’ pay increases approved under compensation law

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said on May 28, 2025, that salary increases for public officials took effect under a process established by law after the Legislature did not act on recommendations from the Virgin Islands Public Officials Compensation Committee within 90 days.

In a statement, Bryan said Acts 7878 and 8384 created the committee and gave the Legislature authority to accept, amend or reject its recommendations. He said the law also allowed the recommendations to take effect automatically if the Legislature took no action within the 90-day period.

Bryan said the commission submitted its report to the Legislature on Aug. 13, 2024, and that the Legislature did not act within the required time. He said the Office of the Governor was not involved up to that point.

The governor also defended the commission’s members, saying the law called for nine appointments, with three each made by the governor, the Senate president and the chief justice of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court.

Bryan also addressed criticism of commission member Haldane Davies, who now serves in the administration as director of the Bureau of Economic Research. Bryan said Davies had been appointed to the compensation commission in 2022 by the then-Senate president.

In the statement, Bryan said the compensation process was created after the Legislature in 2006 passed Act 6905, which increased salaries for the governor, lieutenant governor and senators without independent review.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-issues-statement-on-calls-to-rescind-wage-increases-as-recommended-by-the-public-officials-compensation-process/