IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3706 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the 

Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE VIRGIN IS2 LANDS. 

3 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.— 

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

5 Islands shall appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with 

6 the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Vir7 gin Islands, from the names on the list required 

8 under section 2(d). If the Governor has nominated 

9 a person for Chief Financial Officer but the Legisla10 ture of the Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nomi11 nee within 90 days after receiving the list pursuant 

12 to section 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from 

13 such list a Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis 

14 until the Legislature consents to a Chief Financial 

15 Officer. 

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

17 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed 

18 under paragraph (1) within 180 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands 

20 Chief Financial Officer Search Commission, by ma21 jority vote, shall appoint from the names on the list 

22 submitted under section 2(d), an Acting Chief Fi23 nancial Officer to serve in that capacity until a Chief 

24 Financial Officer is appointed under the first sen25 tence of paragraph (1). In either case, if the Acting 

26 Chief Financial Officer serves in an acting capacity 


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1 for 180 consecutive days, without further action the 

2 Acting Chief Financial Officer shall become the 

3 Chief Financial Officer. 

4 (b) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The 

5 duties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol6 lowing: 

7 (1) Develop and report on the financial status 

8 of the Government of the Virgin Islands not later 

9 than 6 months after appointment and quarterly 

10 thereafter. Such reports shall be available to the 

11 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 

16 balanced. 

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 Vir25 gin Islands and the head of the Internal Revenue Bureau 


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1 of the Virgin Islands shall provide all documents and in2 formation under the jurisdiction of that head that the 

3 Chief Financial Officer considers required to carry out his 

4 or her functions to the Chief Financial Officer. 

5 (d) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OF6 FICER.— 

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

8 be appointed for a term of 5 years. 

9 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer 

10 shall not be removed except for cause. An Acting 

11 Chief Financial Officer may be removed for cause or 

12 by a Chief Financial Officer appointed with the ad13 vice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Is14 lands. 

15 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Of16 ficer is unable to continue acting in that capacity 

17 due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another 

18 Chief Financial Officer shall be selected in accord19 ance with subsection (a). 

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

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

22 of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be 

23 less than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer 

24 of the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief 


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1 Financial Officer serving in any government or semi2 autonomous agency. 

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

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

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

6 the Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Elections of the 

7 Virgin Islands shall hold a referendum to seek the ap8 proval of the people of the Virgin Islands regarding wheth9 er the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Govern10 ment of the Virgin Islands shall be made a permanent part 

11 of the executive branch of the Government of the Virgin 

12 Islands. The referendum shall be binding and conducted 

13 according to the laws of the Virgin Islands, except that 

14 the results shall be determined by a majority of the ballots 

15 cast. 

16 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com18 mission to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Finan19 cial Officer Search Commission’’. 

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

21 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 

22 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is23 lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 

24 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac25 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manageVerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706

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1 ment in governmental or business entities and must have 

2 experience in the development, implementation, and oper3 ation of financial management systems. 

4 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com6 mission shall be composed of eight members ap7 pointed not later than 30 days after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. Persons appointed as mem9 bers must have recognized business, government, or 

10 financial expertise and experience and shall be ap11 pointed as follows: 

12 (A) One individual appointed by the Gov13 ernor of the Virgin Islands. 

14 (B) One individual appointed by the Presi15 dent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 

16 (C) One individual, who is an employee of 

17 the Government of the Virgin Islands, ap18 pointed by the Central Labor Council of the 

19 Virgin Islands. 

20 (D) One individual appointed by the 

21 Chamber of Commerce of St. Thomas-St. John. 

22 (E) One individual appointed by the Cham23 ber of Commerce of St. Croix. 

24 (F) One individual appointed by the Presi25 dent of the University of the Virgin Islands. 


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

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

3 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 

4 (H) One individual appointed by the Presi5 dent of AARP Virgin islands. 

6 (2) TERMS.— 

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

8 appointed for the life of the Commission. 

9 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com10 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 

11 the original appointment was made. Any mem12 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap13 pointed for the remainder of that term. 

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

15 pay. 

16 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commis17 sion shall constitute a quorum. 

18 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

19 Commission shall be the Chief Justice of the Su20 preme Court of the United States Virgin Islands or 

21 the designee of the Chief Justice. The Chairperson 

22 shall serve as an ex officio member of the Commis23 sion and shall vote only in the case of a tie. 

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

25 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 


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

2 all members have been appointed under this sub3 section. 

4 (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members 

5 may not be current government employees, except 

6 for the member appointed under paragraph (1)(C). 

7 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 

8 shall transmit a report to the Governor, the Committee 

9 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

10 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

11 Senate not later than 60 days after its first meeting. The 

12 report shall name the Commission’s recommendations for 

13 candidates for nomination as Chief Financial Officer of 

14 the Virgin Islands. 

15 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

16 upon the nomination and confirmation of the Chief Finan17 cial Officer. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

20 apply: 

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

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

23 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial 

24 Officer, as the case may be, appointed under section 

25 1(a). 


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

2 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 

3 Search Commission established pursuant to section 

4 2. 

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

6 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 

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

8 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 

9 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds 

10 that a reasonable person would find grounds for dis11 charge. 

Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 

2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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