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Union Calendar No. 435 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3706 

[Report No. 112–600] 

To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the 

Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2011 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

JULY 17, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 16, 2011] 


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A BILL 

To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the 

Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE VIRGIN IS4 LANDS. 

5 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of the Virgin 

7 Islands shall appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with 

8 the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin 

9 Islands, from the names on the list required under 

10 section 2(d). If the Governor has nominated a person 

11 for Chief Financial Officer but the Legislature of the 

12 Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nominee within 

13 90 days after receiving the list pursuant to section 

14 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from such list a 

15 Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis until the 

16 Legislature consents to a Chief Financial Officer. 

17 (2) ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—If a 

18 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed under 

19 paragraph (1) within 180 days after the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands Chief Fi21 nancial Officer Search Commission, by majority vote, 

22 shall appoint from the names on the list submitted 

23 under section 2(d), an Acting Chief Financial Officer 

24 to serve in that capacity until a Chief Financial Offi25 cer is appointed under the first sentence of paragraph 


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1 (1). In either case, if the Acting Chief Financial Offi2 cer serves in an acting capacity for 180 consecutive 

3 days, without further action the Acting Chief Finan4 cial Officer shall become the Chief Financial Officer. 

5 (b) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The du6 ties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol7 lowing: 

8 (1) Develop and report on the financial status of 

9 the Government of the Virgin Islands not later than 

10 6 months after appointment and quarterly thereafter. 

11 Such reports shall be available to the public. 

12 (2) Each year prepare and certify spending lim13 its of the annual budget, including annual estimates 

14 of all revenues of the territory without regard to 

15 sources, and whether or not the annual budget is bal16 anced. 

17 (3) Revise and update standards for financial 

18 management, including inventory and contracting, 

19 for the Government of the Virgin Islands in general 

20 and for each agency in conjunction with the agency 

21 head. 

22 (c) DOCUMENTS PROVIDED.—The heads of each de23 partment of the Government of the Virgin Islands, in par24 ticular the head of the Department of Finance of the Virgin 

25 Islands and the head of the Internal Revenue Bureau of 


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1 the Virgin Islands shall provide all documents and informa2 tion under the jurisdiction of that head that the Chief Fi3 nancial Officer considers required to carry out his or her 

4 functions to the Chief Financial Officer. 

5 (d) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFI6 CER.— 

7 (1) TERM.—The Chief Financial Officer shall be 

8 appointed for a term of 5 years. 

9 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 

10 not be removed except for cause. An Acting Chief Fi11 nancial Officer may be removed for cause or by a 

12 Chief Financial Officer appointed with the advice 

13 and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 

14 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Offi15 cer is unable to continue acting in that capacity due 

16 to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another Chief 

17 Financial Officer shall be selected in accordance with 

18 subsection (a). 

19 (4) SALARY.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 

20 be paid at a salary to be determined by the Governor 

21 of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be less 

22 than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer of 

23 the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief Fi24 nancial Officer serving in any government or semi25 autonomous agency. 


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1 (e) REFERENDUM.—As part of the closest regularly 

2 scheduled, islands-wide election in the Virgin Islands to the 

3 expiration of the fourth year of the five-year term of the 

4 Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Elections of the Virgin 

5 Islands shall hold a referendum to seek the approval of the 

6 people of the Virgin Islands regarding whether the position 

7 of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin 

8 Islands shall be made a permanent part of the executive 

9 branch of the Government of the Virgin Islands. The ref10 erendum shall be binding and conducted according to the 

11 laws of the Virgin Islands, except that the results shall be 

12 determined by a majority of the ballots cast. 

13 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a commis15 sion to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Financial 

16 Officer Search Commission’’. 

17 (b) DUTY OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 

18 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 

19 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is20 lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 

21 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac22 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manage23 ment in governmental or business entities and must have 

24 experience in the development, implementation, and oper25 ation of financial management systems. 


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1 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commis3 sion shall be composed of 8 members appointed not 

4 later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act. Persons appointed as members must have 

6 recognized business, government, or financial exper7 tise and experience and shall be appointed as follows: 

8 (A) 1 individual appointed by the Governor 

9 of the Virgin Islands. 

10 (B) 1 individual appointed by the President 

11 of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 

12 (C) 1 individual, who is an employee of the 

13 Government of the Virgin Islands, appointed by 

14 the Central Labor Council of the Virgin Islands. 

15 (D) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 

16 of Commerce of St. Thomas-St. John. 

17 (E) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 

18 of Commerce of St. Croix. 

19 (F) 1 individual appointed by the President 

20 of the University of the Virgin Islands. 

21 (G) 1 individual, who is a resident of St. 

22 John, appointed by the At-Large Member of the 

23 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 

24 (H) 1 individual appointed by the Presi25 dent of AARP Virgin islands. 


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1 (2) TERMS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 

3 appointed for the life of the Commission. 

4 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com5 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 

6 the original appointment was made. Any mem7 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap8 pointed for the remainder of that term. 

9 (3) BASIC PAY.—Members shall serve without 

10 pay. 

11 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commission 

12 shall constitute a quorum. 

13 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

14 Commission shall be the Chief Justice of the Supreme 

15 Court of the United States Virgin Islands or the des16 ignee of the Chief Justice. The Chairperson shall serve 

17 as an ex officio member of the Commission and shall 

18 vote only in the case of a tie. 

19 (6) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

20 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 

21 meet for the first time not later than 15 days after 

22 all members have been appointed under this sub23 section. 


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1 (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members may 

2 not be current government employees, except for the 

3 member appointed under paragraph (1)(C). 

4 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 

5 shall transmit a report to the Governor, the Committee on 

6 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the 

7 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

8 not later than 60 days after its first meeting. The report 

9 shall name the Commission’s recommendations for can10 didates for nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the 

11 Virgin Islands. 

12 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

13 upon the nomination and confirmation of the Chief Finan14 cial Officer. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

17 apply: 

18 (1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—In sections 1 

19 and 2, the term ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ means a 

20 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial Of21 ficer, as the case may be, appointed under section 

22 1(a). 

23 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

24 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 

25 Search Commission established pursuant to section 2. 


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1 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 

2 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 

3 (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The term ‘‘removal 

4 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 

5 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds that 

6 a reasonable person would find grounds for discharge. 


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Union Calendar No. 435 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3706 

[Report No. 112–600] 

A BILL 

To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of 

other purposes. the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for 

JULY 17, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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