Bryan called special session for Dec. 29 on revised debt refinancing proposal

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said on December 21, 2020, that he had called the 33rd Legislature into special session for December 29 to reconsider a revised proposal to refinance Virgin Islands government debt.

Bryan said the administration's earlier proposal would have front-loaded savings from lower interest rates to create a cash infusion, but the revised measure would instead set a cap on the interest rate and pursue a conventional refinancing with savings distributed over a 20-year amortization period.

He said the refinancing was intended to reduce long-term debt service and could generate savings that the Legislature could direct to the Government Employees' Retirement System or other uses.

Bryan also said the administration was assembling a CARES Act-funded stimulus plan for teachers to offset personal costs tied to virtual learning.

On the territory's COVID-19 response, Bryan said Moderna vaccine doses had arrived in the Virgin Islands and were being distributed to health-care workers, and that another shipment of the Pfizer vaccine was scheduled to arrive during the week of December 21. He said about 260 people had been vaccinated during the previous week.

The administration also reported that as of December 21, 2020, the Virgin Islands Department of Labor had issued 89,939 unemployment-related checks totaling $103,068,252 during the year.

Government House said 2,248 people had been tested for COVID-19 since December 14, with 114 positive results, a 5% positivity rate. It reported 146 active cases, 1,752 recoveries and 23 deaths. It said two COVID-19 patients were hospitalized at Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix, including one on a ventilator, and one patient was hospitalized at Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-calls-33rd-legislature-into-special-session-to-re-address-new-gvi-debt-refinancing-proposal/