Acting governor approved four bills and vetoed one from Nov. 20 Legislature session

Acting Gov. Tregenza A. Roach took action on five bills passed by the 35th Legislature during its Nov. 20, 2024, session, according to a Government House statement published Dec. 3, 2024.

Roach, acting on behalf of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., approved Bills 35-0205, 35-0271, 35-0402 and 35-0412, and vetoed Bill 35-0403.

Bill 35-0205 appropriated $900,000 to the Virgin Islands Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation to build an equestrian training facility in Estate Body Slob, St. Croix. Bill 35-0271 amended Virgin Islands law to establish school speed zones, signage and enforcement measures near schools.

In approving Bill 35-0271, Roach said it would be beneficial to amend the measure to allow all law enforcement officers, not only the Virgin Islands Police Department, to enforce infractions.

Bill 35-0402 amended Virgin Islands law to extend the statute of limitations for civil actions involving childhood sexual abuse.

Roach also approved Bill 35-0412, which amended multiple sections of Virgin Islands law involving public property management, procurement, the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, and supplemental appropriations. The statement said he used line-item veto authority to strike Sections 3 and 9.

Roach said he struck Section 3 because it would have restricted the governor’s ability to respond to an emergency, and struck Section 9 because it would have shifted funding from the University of the Virgin Islands to the Economic Development Authority for grants to farmers and fishermen.

Roach vetoed Bill 35-0403, which would have repealed and re-enacted portions of Virgin Islands law relating to abandoned and derelict motor vehicles.

In his transmittal letter to Senate President Novelle E. Francis Jr., Roach said the existing statute on abandoned motor vehicles was adequate and that island administrators in the Office of the Governor already carried out that work across the territory. He said moving the program exclusively to the Virgin Islands Police Department would add work to a department that was already stretched thin.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/lt-governor-roach-acts-on-bills-passed-in-35th-legislatures-november-20-session/