{"id":28433,"date":"2015-09-13T11:10:30","date_gmt":"2015-09-13T11:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=28433"},"modified":"2015-09-13T11:10:30","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T11:10:30","slug":"sen-nelson-proposes-phase-one-of-infrastructure-construction-plan-costing-250-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=28433","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Nelson Proposes Phase One Of ‘Infrastructure Construction Plan’ Costing $250 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. CROIX — Senator Terrence “Positive” Nelson on Friday proposed phase one of his ‘big deal’, dubbed “Virgin Islands Infrastructure Reconstruction Plan<\/a><\/span>“, costing tax payers some $250 million that he says will give the critical boost needed to jumpstart the territory’s lagging economy.<\/p>\n

“It is my wholehearted belief that the contents of this legislation can be the economic stimulus to turn around the economy of our U.S. Virgin Islands,” Nelson said in a press release his office issued on Friday.<\/p>\n

The senator has also begun circulating the measure to 31st Legislature senators in hopes that they would sign onto the measure.<\/p>\n

In late March<\/a><\/span>, The Consortium spoke to Senators Nelson, Kurt Vialet and Novelle Francis about the ‘big deal’, which would ultimately cost the territory some $4 billion according to Nelson, to gauge reception and get an idea as to whether the measure would succeed once it arrives on the Senate floor. Nelson said the legislation would\u00a0move capital improvement projects forward, all while consolidating smaller, high-interest loans into one lower-interest, long-term payment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do need an infusion of cash,\u201d Vialet said, \u201cthe big question is going to be the source.\u201d\u00a0Vialet said the federal government has a duty to support the territory, especially since it has been giving billions to other countries.”And so he\u00a0seemed to favor a bailout in lieu of a $4 billion loan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that the federal government has a responsibility to the Virgin Islands,\u201d Vialet continued. \u201cThey give billions of dollars to Israel and other countries, and sometimes they try to brainwash us [by saying] we should not be begging; but we\u2019re not begging, it\u2019s a responsibility. We\u2019re an entity of the United States, we have special conditions that govern the Virgin Islands in terms of geography, and I don\u2019t see the reason why [the federal government] can\u2019t provide a bailout for the Virgin Islands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis said there are several other senators with plans similar to Nelson\u2019s that he thinks can be meshed into one offering, but he supports Sen. Nelson’s efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn regards to Sen. Nelson\u2019s plan, there are several senators that also have plans that I believe we could have a discussion and merge the plans so we could have a win-win situation at the end of the day that would be beneficial to us,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not in any way opposed to the plan that has been proposed by Sen. Nelson, but we just want, as a body, to sit down and look at all options at the table to get the right fitting of a plan that would come forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Nelson believes his measure is the best way forward, and reminded Vialet and Francis that the federal government is not obligated to bailout the territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be clear, we know we can\u2019t force the federal government to granting us or lend us \u00a0this money,\u201d Nelson said, \u201cthat is why the bill proposes several financial instruments inclusive of federal grants or borrowing bonds. So, it reaches across and I am open to collaboration and I\u2019m hoping that we can have this sit down as a body.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the \u2018big plan,\u2019 the senators assured, would happen sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actually hoping to discuss this, off record, as a body, so that by the time we come to the public we could have some consensus because we\u2019re not just going to give the governor a blank check,\u201d Nelson said in March. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have descriptive uses [to] prioritize how we want this spending done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson added that he learned in speaking with Morgan Stanley, one of the firms interested in his Infrastructure Reconstruction Plan, financial firms are generally not interested in\u00a0funding a project, \u201cthey\u2019re interested in funding a plan, and that\u2019s why I believe once they see we\u2019re heading somewhere, the chances of it being funded is a lot more viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vialet said action will be seen on the \u2018big deal\u2019 soon because \u201cwe don\u2019t have a choice.\u201d Francis added that the \u2018big plan\u2019 is \u201cnecessary\u201d given the territory\u2019s current state. And Nelson said \u201cat least some discussions\u201d will be had.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. CROIX — Senator Terrence “Positive” Nelson on Friday proposed phase one of his ‘big deal’, dubbed “Virgin Islands Infrastructure Reconstruction Plan“, costing tax payers some $250 million that he says will give the critical boost needed to jumpstart the territory’s lagging economy. “It is my wholehearted belief that the contents of this legislation can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,11,854,191,2474,147],"tags":[1372,1489],"yoast_head":"\nSen. Nelson Proposes Phase One Of 'Infrastructure Construction Plan' Costing $250 Million - V.I. Consortium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ST. 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