Government

GVI Finances Stable, OMB Says, But $50M in Vendor Payments and Federal Fund Delays Trouble Lawmakers

Despite assurances from the Bryan administration’s financial team that the territory’s finances are stable, lawmakers closed budget hearings Tuesday pressing the Office of Management and Budget on two persistent problems: more than $50 million in unpaid vendor obligations and delays in spending hundreds of millions in federal funds. As of August 8, the Government of the Virgin Islands owed vendors just over $50 million, including $1.8 million in invoices lingering from FY2024. Finance Commissioner Kevin McCurdy explained that the Department of Finance has “suspended the priority listing approach” to payments and is instead focusing on obligations “critical to continuing government operations” and “long-standing” debts. Lawmakers were unsatisfied. Senator Avery Lewis said, “We owe the vendors. It’s like business as usual. You have nobody getting in trouble…There’s no repercussion.” Committee chair Senator Novelle Francis agreed, saying “There must be some consequences,” particularly fo...