We're Living in the USVI's Most Accessible Era
July 10th, 2024 | Perma Plaque Ceremony|Public Live Stream
Earlier this week, a page for Legislative Sessions went live on the State of the Territory News homepage. The new tab will support growing communities in the United States who watch, document or report on legislative sessions and policy shifts.
Legislative Branch
Every session conducted by the Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands is available to the public on the chamber’s official website and its YouTube channel.
Before the introduction of the internet, Virgin Islanders had limited options to view or attend public sessions. To observe (in previous decades), residents needed to pay for a copy of a transcript or visit the chamber in person.
Visiting in person also meant investing in travel, as well as lodging if you lived on another island.
The internet offers residents a chance to observe or participate in legislative debates (at low cost), and it has also given senators a more efficient way to communicate their agenda with constituents.
Throughout 2024, YouTube views per session for the territory’s first branch of government averaged between 400 and 500 views, with one budget session surpassing 1,000 views for the first time.
Executive Branch
In 2019, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. launched the first government transparency tool for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The publicly available website, transparency.vi.gov, is the first of its kind, giving anyone with an internet connection a peak into the territory’s revenue and expenditures.
P.S. Aside from boosting access to public information, the new page cataloging Legislative Sessions will (hopefully) increase local and global viewership over time.