U.S. Virgin Islands governor Albert Bryan Jr. (D) is planning to send a revised marijuana legalization bill to the legislature today and is urging its passage to generate needed tax revenue from cannabis sales during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have taken the time to gather further public input as well as address the concerns of the individual legislators,” the governor said on Monday. “As the economic disaster, the last few weeks has created has affected the [Government Employees Retirement System] greatly it is our hope that we can have a greater sense of exigency in implementing all the things that can help us regain solvency.”
Bryan argued that legislation represents an economic opportunity that could prevent the government from slashing payments for retirees.
“Certainly cutting the annuity of retirees by 30 percent cannot be the path,” he explained.
According to the governor’s estimates, legalization would be upwards of $20 million dollars in annual tax revenue. Marijuana would be taxed at 30 percent, with revenue distributed to the government retirement system (75 percent), funding senior citizens initiatives (20 percent) and to the territory’s Office of Cannabis Regulations (five percent).
