St. Thomas — After 4 weeks on the job, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. delivered his first State of the Territory Address to the 33rd Legislature and the world. Government House live tweeted some of the governor’s address, which is uncharted territory for a sitting governor.
Governor Albert Bryan Jr. will deliver the 2019 State of the Territory Address this evening at 7pm. pic.twitter.com/TgVBuxBK9a
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
Here are 16 excerpts handpicked by Government House:
1.
"Thank you to our servicemen and women of our Virgin Islands Army and Air National Guard, as well as our Virgin Islanders serving in Active Duty across the globe. Your selfless sacrifice to serve the nation and our community is appreciated and does not go unnoticed." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
2.
"While the disaster recovery spending will cushion the blow in the near term, if left unattended, the instability of the economy will become increasingly more evident when the recovery efforts subside over the coming years." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
3.
"Stabilizing our government will also require shoring up our public pension system. No economy or community can be stable with a pension system in jeopardy that directly affects almost 20 percent of its population and indirectly more than 50 percent." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
4.
"The system is contemplating the sale of its assets to maintain liquidity and cut losses. But we cannot allow our GERS to be divested of assets, without a plan to ensure the long-term security of the pensions of the hardworking public employees." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
5.
"We will also expand the availability of affordable housing and ensure universal access to affordable healthcare. These are the basic necessities of any household." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
6.
"As we add more projects to the system, important contracts that provide services for everything from care to our seniors to housing our inmates on the mainland get entangled in the bureaucracy, and vendors, unfortunately, go unpaid." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
7.
"As we add more projects to the system, important contracts that provide services for everything from care to our seniors to housing our inmates on the mainland get entangled in the bureaucracy, and vendors, unfortunately, go unpaid." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
8.
"Our strategy is to utilize our Department of Education in tandem with the Department of Labor, the University of the Virgin Islands and our Career and Technical Board to focus on the intersectionality and make those our priorities in creating our workforce pipeline" #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
9.
"We have to, and we will retool our Career and Technical Training, and provide more access to students in the St. Thomas-St.John districts where there are limited resources" #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
10.
"We have lost five Virgin Islanders to senseless violence this month. That is unacceptable. And what is more unnerving, is this has occurred in January four times in the last five years. I am committed to doing what we must to ensure that next January we have none" #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 28, 2019
11.
"We will be aiding and supporting projects that expand our marine industry and will be sending down legislation in the second quarter that will incentivize the building of marinas, shipyard, dry docks and training for marine service personnel" #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 29, 2019
12.
"The addition of the underground lines, micro-grids and expanding renewable energy was once only things we could hope for. Now they can become a reality with the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery and other FEMA grants. We can do more" #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 29, 2019
13.
"Tonight, I ask you to take on this mantra to be the best you can be individually and collectively we will be the best Virgin Islands we can be" #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 29, 2019
14.
"It is not a responsibility to be shared by the leadership alone but as the society as a whole. One Virgin Islands collectively moving forward to a brighter future for all of us." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 29, 2019
15.
"This is a charge I have given myself, and a charge Lieutenant Governor Roach has joined me in. And tonight, I implore you to join us as we chart this course towards a brighter Virgin Islands for all of us." #BrighterVI
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 29, 2019
16.
"God bless you all and God bless the #USVI" #BrighterVI https://t.co/P6DGpgQn8s
— GovernmentHouse USVI (@govhouseusvi) January 29, 2019
Read Governor Bryan’s fully transcribed State of the Territory Address here.
