Albert Bryan, Jr., Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor, told the 29th Legislature’s Finance Committee that the territory's economic downturn and staffing shortages were testing Labor's ability to serve the public.

The department is struggling to meet the challenges brought on by reduced funding and a spiking demand for services because of the high unemployment rate in the territory, he told legislators.

The commissioner requested a total appropriation of $7,807,539, divided between $5,540,537 from the General Fund and $2,267,002 from the Government Insurance Fund. Labor's total non-appropriated local funds are $1,273,959 and total non-appropriated federal funds are $9,404,103, amounting to a total proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 budget of $17,211,162. 

He said the budget he has presented to the Finance Committee “reflects the seriousness of the economic challenges we face in the territory.”

“We continue to work through this economic recession doing more with much less. We are extremely short staffed and are literally struggling to provide the services we are mandated to provide the people of this territory who often look to us for relief,” he added. 

This 2012 appropriation must pay the salaries of 164 employees territory-wide, pay for leases, utilities, equipment, supplies, and other costs. Meanwhile, the territory's fiscal limitations are putting an extreme strain on programs such as the Divisions of Labor Relations, Planning Research and Monitoring and Hearings & Appeals, the commissioner said said.

Those divisions are serving twice as many customers as they did a year earlier, and the number is only increasing while Labor personnel is shrinking due to retirements and lack of funding. That is placing a greater strain on remaining employees, many of whom have doubled their output to compensate for staffing reductions, in turn motivating more retirements among those who are eligible.

The territory’s unemployment rate in July of 2010 was 8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In July of this year, it was 9.2 percent, he reported. 

The high number of jobless Virgin Islanders means the territory must continue to borrow federal funds to pay unemployment beneficiaries—more than $23 million so far, with half a million dollars already accrued in interest. 

The Virgin Islands has distributed almost $100 million in unemployment benefits. Because the initial filing is manual, the department’s Unemployment Insurance Team is being pushed to its limits.

Despite those challenges, Bryan closed his testimony by saying: “We assure you that we will continue to act responsibly in using our FY 2012 budget allotment to carry out the operations of the Department of Labor. We therefore, humbly request that you grant us the total proposed budget for fiscal year 2012.”