Government

Bryan to Veto Minimum Wage Increase Bill For Gov't Employees, Pointing to Tight Budget and Tens of Millions Paid This Year

Governor Albert Bryan on Wednesday told the Consortium that he intends to veto a bill sponsored by Senator Kurt Vialet that seeks to raise the minimum wage for government employees, pointing to a tight budget that Mr. Vialet as chair of the Finance Committee approved, and tens of millions already paid to make government employees past and current whole. Mr. Vialet last week announced the measure which aims to raise the minimum wage of government employees from $13 an hour to $15 an hour, moving their annual total from $27,040 to $32,000. The raise would cover 971 employees and cost the government $4.5 million annually, according Jose George, post auditor of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. The current minimum wage for private sector employees in the USVI, which Mr. Vialet's measure does not address, is $10.50 per hour. "With inflation and the cost of everything it's hard for a living wage," Mr. Vialet said, referring to the current $27,040 annual income of some government empl...