Senator Marvin Blyden has renewed a call to President of the Legislature Milton Potter to convene a hearing of the Committee of the Whole focused on the territory’s near-term economic outlook in light of the ongoing disruption caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
Senator Blyden first made the request shortly after the United States and Israel began their war against Iran. Despite an initial positive response, he disclosed in an open letter to Senator Potter, no date for the requested hearing has been scheduled.
“In the interim, economic conditions have not stabilized – they have deteriorated,” Mr. Blyden argued, pointing out rising energy and transportation costs, including price hikes of approximately 250 percent by certain shipping companies. These increases “represent a vicious cycle of increasing costs whose effects reach across nearly every imported good, affecting households, small businesses, and the broader economy,” wrote Senator Blyden. “At the same time, the global tourism environment has grown more uncertain,” he declared, pointing to the abrupt shuttering of Spirit Airlines, which offered significant airlift to the territory.
Further delays in a Senate-level discussion with economic stakeholders, Sen. Blyden warns, would “limit our ability to respond proactively and responsibly.” The need for a Committee of the Whole hearing on the subject “has only grown more urgent,” he argued.
Senator Blyden says that he would like to invite testimony from a broad swath of public and private sector actors, including representatives from the Office of Management and Budget, Department of Tourism, Port Authority, Water and Power Authority, major airlines, cruise operators, fuel distributors and retailers, hotels and other hospitality industry operators, food retailers, and organized labor.
“The Virgin Islands cannot afford to be reactive in the face of rapidly evolving economic conditions,” said Senator Blyden, urging the President of the Legislature for a second time to convene the requested hearing “at the earliest possible date.”
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