IB 

Union Calendar No. 389

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3589

[Report No. 108–645] 

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

Virgin Islands. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

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

Committee on Resources 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2004 

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 November 21, 2003] 

A BILL

To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the 

Government of the Virgin Islands.

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

2 Islands shall appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with 

3 the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin 

4 Islands, from the names on the list required under 

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

6 for Chief Financial Officer but the Legislature of the 

7 Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nominee within 

8 90 days after receiving the list pursuant to section 

9 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from such list a 

10 Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis until the 

11 Legislature consents to a Chief Financial Officer. 

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

13 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed under 

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

15 enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands Chief Fi16 nancial Officer Search Commission, by majority vote, 

17 shall appoint from the names on the list submitted 

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

19 to serve in that capacity until a Chief Financial Offi20 cer is appointed under the first sentence of paragraph 

21 (1). In either case, if the Acting Chief Financial Offi22 cer serves in an acting capacity for 180 consecutive 

23 days, without further action the Acting Chief Finan24 cial Officer shall become the Chief Financial Officer. 

25 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the appointment of a 

2 Chief Financial Officer under subsection (a), the 

3 functions of the Director of the Office of Management 

4 and Budget established under the laws of the Virgin 

5 Islands shall be transferred to the Chief Financial Of6 ficer. All employees of the Office of Management and 

7 Budget become employees of the Office of the Chief Fi8 nancial Officer. 

9 (2) DOCUMENTS PROVIDED.—The heads of each 

10 department of the Government of the Virgin Islands, 

11 in particular the head of the Department of Finance 

12 of the Virgin Islands and the head of the Internal 

13 Revenue Bureau of the Virgin Islands shall provide 

14 all documents and information under the jurisdiction 

15 of that head that the Chief Financial Officer considers 

16 required to carry out his or her functions to the Chief 

17 Financial Officer. 

18 (c) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The du19 ties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol20 lowing: 

21 (1) Assume the functions and authority of the of22 fice of the Office of Management and Budget estab23 lished under the laws of the Virgin Islands as trans24 ferred under subsection (b). 
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1 (2) Develop a report on the financial status of 

2 the Government of the Virgin Islands not later than 

3 6 months after appointment and quarterly thereafter. 

4 Such reports shall be available to the public and shall 

5 be submitted to the Committee on Resources in the 

6 House of Representatives and the Committee on En7 ergy and Natural Resources in the Senate. 

8 (3) Each year certify spending limits of the an9 nual budget and whether or not the annual budget is 

10 balanced. 

11 (4) Monitor operations of budget for compliance 

12 with spending limits, appropriations, and laws, and 

13 direct adjustments where necessary. 

14 (5) Develop standards for financial management, 

15 including inventory and contracting, for the govern16 ment of the Virgin Islands in general and for each 

17 agency in conjunction with the agency head. 

18 (6) Oversee all aspects of the implementation of 

19 the financial management system provided pursuant 

20 to section 3 to ensure the coordination, transparency, 

21 and networking of all agencies’ financial, personnel, 

22 and budget functions. 

23 (7) Provide technical staff to the Governor and 

24 legislature of the Virgin Islands for development of a 

25 deficit reduction and financial recovery plan.
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1 (d) DEPUTY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—Until the 

2 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, the position of the Director of the Office of Management 

4 and Budget of the Virgin Islands shall—

5 (1) have the duties, salary (as specified in sub6 section (f)(3)), and other conditions of the Deputy 

7 Chief Financial Officer in lieu of the duties, salary, 

8 and other conditions of the Director of the Office of 

9 Management and Budget of the Virgin Islands as 

10 such functions existed before the appointment of the 

11 Chief Financial Officer; and 

12 (2) assist the Chief Financial Officer in carrying 

13 out the duties of the Chief Financial Officer. 

14 (e) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFI15 CER.—

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

17 appointed for a term of 5 years. 

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

19 not be removed except for cause. An Acting Chief Fi20 nancial Officer may be removed for cause or by a 

21 Chief Financial Officer appointed with the advice 

22 and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 

23 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Offi24 cer is unable to continue acting in that capacity due 

25 to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another Chief 
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1 Financial Officer shall be selected in accordance with 

2 subsection (a). 

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

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

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

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

7 the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief Fi8 nancial Officer serving in any government or semi9 autonomous agency. 

10 (f) CONDITIONS RELATED TO DEPUTY CHIEF FINAN11 CIAL OFFICER.—

12 (1) TERM; REMOVAL.—The Deputy Chief Finan13 cial Officer shall serve at the pleasure of the Chief Fi14 nancial Officer. 

15 (2) REPLACEMENT.—If the Deputy Chief Finan16 cial Officer is unable to continue acting in that ca17 pacity due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, an18 other person shall be selected by the Governor of the 

19 Virgin Islands to serve as Deputy Chief Financial Of20 ficer. 

21 (3) SALARY.—The Deputy Chief Financial Offi22 cer shall be paid at a salary to be determined by the 

23 Chief Financial Officer, except such rate may not be 

24 less than the rate of pay of the Director of the Office 

25 of Management and Budget. 
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1 (g) RESUMPTION OF FUNCTIONS.—On the date that is 

2 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the func3 tions of the Chief Financial Officer shall be transferred to 

4 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the 

5 Virgin Islands. 

6 (h) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have effect 

7 after the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a commis11 sion to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Financial 

12 Officer Search Commission’’. 

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

14 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 

15 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is16 lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 

17 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac18 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manage19 ment in governmental or business entities and must have 

20 experience in the development, implementation, and oper21 ation of financial management systems. Candidates shall 

22 not have served in a policy making or unclassified position 

23 of the Government of the Virgin Islands in the 10 years 

24 immediately preceding appointment as Chief Financial Of25 ficer. 
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1 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

2 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commis3 sion shall be composed of 9 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 appointed by the Chief 

22 Judge of the Virgin Islands Territorial Court. 

23 (H) 1 individual, who is a resident of St. 

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

25 Legislature of the Virgin Islands.
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1 (I) 1 individual appointed by the Advocates 

2 for the Preservation of the Retirement System. 

3 (2) TERMS.—

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

5 appointed for the life of the Commission. 

6 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com7 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 

8 the original appointment was made. Any mem9 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap10 pointed for the remainder of that term. 

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

12 pay. 

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

14 shall constitute a quorum. 

15 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

16 Commission shall be the Chief Judge of the Territorial 

17 Court or her designee and shall serve as an ex officio 

18 member of the Commission and shall vote only in the 

19 case of a tie. 

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

21 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 

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

23 all members have been appointed under this sub24 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); and 

4 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 

5 shall transmit a report to the Governor and the Resources 

6 Committee of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate not 

8 later than 60 days after its first meeting. The report shall 

9 name the Commission’s recommendations for candidates for 

10 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is11 lands. 

12 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

13 210 days after its first meeting. 

14 SEC. 3. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. 

15 It is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 

16 as necessary for the installation of a Financial Manage17 ment System, including appropriate computer hardware 

18 and software, to the Government of the Virgin Islands. 

19 Upon becoming available, the financial management system 

20 shall be available to the Chief Financial Officer and, after 

21 the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 

23 Budget of the Virgin Islands, to assist the Chief Financial 

24 Officer or the Director of the Office of Management and 
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1 Budget of the Virgin Islands, as the case may be, to carry 

2 out the official duties of that office. 

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

4 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

5 apply: 

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

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

8 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial Of9 ficer, as the case may be, appointed under section 

10 1(a). 

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

12 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 

13 Search Commission established pursuant to section 2. 

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

15 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 

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

17 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 

18 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds that 

19 a reasonable person would find grounds for discharge. 

20 SEC. 5. NO ABROGATION OF POWERS. 

21 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit the 

22 Governor and Legislature of the Virgin Islands to dilute, 

23 delegate, or otherwise alter or weaken the powers and au24 thority of the Office of Management and Budget established 

25 under the laws of the Virgin Islands.
Union Calendar No. 389

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3589

[Report No. 108–645] 

A BILL

To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of 

the Government of the Virgin Islands. 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2004

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