[House Report 106-807]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-807
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SIZE AND QUORUM OF LEGISLATURE DETERMINED BY LAWS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
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September 6, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2296]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 2296) to amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin
Islands to provide that the number of members on the
legislature of the Virgin Islands and the number of such
members constituting a quorum shall be determined by the laws
of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 2296 is to amend the Revised Organic
Act of the Virgin Islands to provide that the number of members
on the legislature of the Virgin Islands and the number of such
members constituting a quorum shall be determined by the laws
of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes.
Background and Need for Legislation
The U.S. Virgin Islands is an unincorporated organized
territory of the United States acquired by purchase from
Denmark in 1917. In 1927, Congress extended U.S. citizenship to
the residents of the islands and enacted extensive organic
legislation in 1936. In 1954, Congress replaced the 1936 act
with a Revised Organic Act. While the Virgin Islands organic
legislation provided for a civil government, which was during
the period when the governor was still appointed by the U.S.
president, Congress subsequently enacted additional measures to
increase self-governance for the Virgin Islands, including
authorization for the direct election of governor, a delegate
to Congress, and a local constitution. However, as the Virgin
Islands has yet to implement local constitutional government as
authorized by Congress in 1976 with the enactment of Public Law
94-584, any changes to executive, legislative, and judicial
branches of the Virgin Islands or other provisions of the
Organic Act of the Virgin Islands must occur by an act of
Congress.
The Revised Organic Act of 1954 provided for a unicameral
legislative body comprised of 11 members elected at-large.
Congress amended the Act in 1966, increasing the legislature's
membership to 15.
The instability of government revenues and volatile
economies of the U.S. territories have caused their respective
governments to seek ways to reduce government spending. The
Virgin Islands, through enactment of Resolution No. 1590 in
1998, petitioned Congress to amend the Revised Organic Act of
1954 to reduce the number of members from 15 to 9. This
reflects the importance of this issue to the people of the
Virgin Islands.
Committee Action
H.R. 2296 was introduced on June 22, 1999, by Donna M.C.
Christensen (D-VI). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources. On May 17, 2000, the Committee conducted a hearing
on Virgin Islands self-government and the need for
constitutional self-government. On June 28, 2000, the Full
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments
were offered and the bill was favorably reported to the House
of Representatives by unanimous consent.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article IV, section 3 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
Compliance With House Rule XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 5, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2296, a bill to
amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to provide
that the number of members of the legislature of the Virgin
Islands and the number of such members constituting a quorum
shall be determined by the laws of the Virgin Islands, and for
other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is John R.
Righter.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 2296--A bill to amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin
Islands to provide that the number of members on the
legislature of the Virgin Islands and the number of such
members constituting a quorum shall be determined by the laws
of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes
H.R. 2296 would amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin
Islands to allow the Virgin Islands to determine the size of
its legislature and the number of members needed to constitute
a quorum. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2296 would have no
impact on the federal budget. Because the bill would not affect
direct spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not
apply. H.R. 2296 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact is John R. Righter. This estimate was
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for
Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
REVISED ORGANIC ACT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
* * * * * * *
legislative branch
Sec. 5. (a) * * *
(b) The legislature shall be composed of [fifteen] members
to be known as senators. The number of such senators shall be
determined by the laws of the Virgin Islands. The apportionment
of the legislature shall be as provided by laws of the Virgin
Islands: Provided, That such apportionment shall not deny to
any person in the Virgin Islands the equal protection of the
law: And provided further, That every voter in any district
election or at large election shall be permitted to vote for
the whole number of persons to be elected in that district
election or at large election as the case may be. Until the
legislature shall provide otherwise, four members shall be
elected at large, five shall be elected from the District of
Saint Thomas, five from the District of Saint Croix, and one
from the District of Saint John, as those Districts were
constituted on July 22, 1954.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 9. (a) [The quorum of the legislature shall consist of
eight of its members.] The number of members of the legislature
needed to constitute a quorum shall be determined by the laws
of the Virgin Islands. No bill shall become a law unless it
shall have been passed at a meting, at which a quorum was
present, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members
present and voting, which vote shall be by yeas and nays.
* * * * * * *