ST. CROIX — Senator Marise James is asserting preemption over proposed legislation sent by Governor Albert Bryan Jr. to allow government employees to run for office without taking leave.
Under the rules of the Legislature, bills tied to a subject already introduced by a senator must wait until that senator’s version is heard or withdrawn.
“I’m not relinquishing my authorship of the bill,” James said. “I want my version that I wrote to go forward.”
The governor has called a special session of the 36th Legislature on July 31 to consider three legislative proposals he submitted, including a bill to repeal the leave of absence requirement for government employees seeking office. Bryan, while discussing his proposals during Monday’s press briefing at Government House, said it is time to take the barrier away and let the people serve if they choose to do so.
“As a lifelong Democrat, we have always stood for inclusion and participation in our election process,” Bryan said at the time. “I acknowledge that Senator Marise James was working on this in the 35th Legislature. She wasn’t supported. She knows it’s unfair and she’s trying to bring fairness back.”
James and Bryan support the core idea that the law should be repealed.
“The governor and I agree on the fact that government employees should not have to take leave in order to campaign and run for political office,” James said.
Previous efforts to repeal the law:
James initially intended that government employees would not have to take any leave while running for office, but she amended her bill so leave would not be required until the beginning of early voting. The amendment was in response to concerns that government employees running as political candidates would have their work duties disrupted the closer it got to Election Day.
Caroline Fawkes, supervisor of the Elections System of the Virgin Islands, recommended during a Committee on Rules and Judiciary meeting on September 28, 2023 that leave be required 60 days prior to any election as opposed to the beginning of early voting. She said one of the main reasons for her suggestion was because the voting process begins with absentee ballots rather than with early voting.
“ESVI will not support candidates on the job while the voting process has begun,” she said.
James moved to hold her bill for further amendments. The committee members considered it again on June 13, 2024. The representatives from the ESVI, DOP, and OCB testified in support of changes to the bill that were discussed.
Democratic Party supports the repeal:
Stedmann Hodge Jr., who served as state chair of the Democratic Party when the bill was offered, testified in support of the bill.
“Bill No. 35-0032 is necessary and long overdue to allow a government employee that seeks public office to remain actively employed,” he said.
James moved to approve an amended version of her bill during the June 2024 committee meeting, but her motion failed due to a lack of a second.
After hearing the governor discuss his proposal to repeal the law during Monday’s press briefing, Democratic State Chair Carol Burke issued a statement Tuesday encouraging the 36th Legislature of the Virgin Islands to vote in support of the measure.
“The financial burden and hardship required to become an elected official have been a hurdle for many qualified government workers who could augment the pool of candidates seeking political office,” Burke said in a statement. “Public service is about giving back to one’s respective community. For too long, we have institutionalized statutes that discourage government workers from participating in our democratic process.”
Time will tell if the Party’s support of the repeal extends to a majority of the Democratic senators in the Legislature. When James attempted to move her bill out of committee in the 35th Legislature, the four other committee members present, all Democrats — Senators Diane Capehart, Angel Bolques Jr., Carla Joseph, and Milton Potter — did not second her motion.
An evolving bill:
Unlike James’ concessions in the 35th, the governor’s proposed measure calls for government employees to seek elected public office without being required to take any leave of absence provided the employee does not engage in campaign-related activities during working hours and does not use government property, resources, or supplies in the conduct of campaign activities.
Although James was initially open to requiring that leave be taken for a certain period of time, she said she has since changed her mind. She said if she as a senator is not distracted ahead of an election and can still fulfill her duties, then she cannot assume other government employees would be distracted. She noted incumbent lieutenant governors and governors are also allowed to run for reelection without taking leave.
“I went back to saying that government employees should just simply be allowed to run without having to take leave,” she said. “That’s the bottom line.”
James pointed out the judicial branch has a rule preventing judges from seeking public office, so she included that language in her amended bill. She said the new version of her bill is in the legal counsel’s office. She said it will be given a bill number and assigned to a committee. She said this year is the perfect time to consider the measure since it is not an election year. She said she anticipates the governor’s approval of the bill, so she just needs to convince seven of her colleagues to support it.
“I didn’t expect the resistance last year because I wasn’t as knowledgeable as I am now to the dynamics of politics in the Virgin Islands,” James said. “So, now that I know better, I’ll do better in terms of lobbying for it, and I think it will pass this time around.”
