Uniform Laws Commission defends budget
Published: August 25, 2010
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ST. THOMAS — The V.I. Uniform Law Commission defended its $40,000 budget for Fiscal Year 2011 during an appearance before the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee on Tuesday.
The commission is a dues-paying member of the Uniform Laws Commission, which is a national body of legal experts that work to draft comprehensive laws that states and territories can choose to adopt. Topics are chosen, drafting committees are created, and at each annual meeting, the drafts are presented to the full body at the national conference.
The V.I. Uniform Law Commission members are Tom Bolt, Yvonne Tharpes, Hunter Logan and Lisa Harris Moorhead.
Bolt said the $40,000 budget appropriation will pay for $18,200 in annual membership dues, $500 for office supplies, $2,500 to keep the Uniform Laws periodicals updated, $11,000 in travel expenses to the annual meeting, $5,800 for professional services, including a summer paralegal, and $2,000 for contingency expenses.
In the last year the V.I. Senate has passed a number of uniform laws, including the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, and the Uniform Probate Code. The Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act is pending, and the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act was adopted but vetoed by the governor because of a technicality. Bolt said the commission plans to offer a revised version of the vetoed bill at the next Senate session. He said he also will offer a technical amendment to the new probate code that will include the Uniform Trust Code and the Uniform Principal and Income Act.
Bolt said no single state or territory has the resources to do the job that the non-partisan commission does, but by pooling resources and expertise, everyone can benefit.
“To date, the U.S. Virgin Islands has adopted 60 uniform and model acts,” Bolt said. “The people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have gained a very great benefit from its participation in the Uniform Law Commission.”
No commissioner is paid for their service, which Bolt said is estimated at about 150 hours per year.
He said the Uniform Law Commission has tackled probate and the commercial codes in recent years and plans to develop uniform corporate codes next.
— Contact reporter Aldeth Lewin
at 774-8772 ext. 311 or e-mail alewin@dailynews.vi.
