Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 27, 2025

Penn would remove controversial retirement act if made Premier

Penn would remove controversial retirement act if made Premier

Health Minister Marlon Penn has said he would agree to remove a section of a controversial piece of legislation that helped to regularise the pension packages of lawmakers if he becomes Premier of the territory.
The Retiring Allowances (Legislative Services) Amendment Act, 2021 which is sometimes referred to by members of the public as the ‘greedy bill’, was met with vocal opposition by a group of residents at the time, but this did not force any changes to the law.

Package concerns

“I would remove the [Retiring Allowances] Act,” Penn said on the Talking Points show recently. “I’ve said this publicly before when it was passed — my concern at the time we were discussing and negotiating the retirement Act, was the way that the pension was being calculated.”

Penn said pensions were previously calculated on the basis of the base salary of legislators and not on their entire package. 

“For instance, you had [House of Assembly] members. The average salary of a member was $36,000 base — that’s the member’s salary. So members were getting pensions based on that $36,000, not based on all the other allowances and things they were getting [in] their package. But they were being taxed on it,” he said.

Penn argued that if someone is being taxed on something, then this should be calculated as part of their pension. 

“That was the component [of the bill] on which we did a review. We did an assessment with a retired politician and I think a judge was part of the team in terms of what would be a reasonable pension or salary for an elected official in the territory,” he said.

I’m not a hypocrite

Penn, in the meantime, said he requested a division of votes (confirmation of a voice vote) in the House of Assembly (HOA) on the issue of how one-term politicians were getting paid their pensions, but was voted down in this request at the time.

“The principle of the bill I supported, but all the other things I did not support,” Penn explained. “I’m not a hypocrite, if I’m going to vote for something, I’m going to vote for it.”

When the legislation was changed two years ago, then-Premier Andrew Fahie said legislators’ retirement benefits at that time did not take their allowances into consideration and he said this is what the law aimed to address.

At the time, Fahie made reference to a legislative adjustment for the retirement packages of judges, and said this news drew little media attention.

“The minute the politicians or elected officials’ retirement adjustment hits, then it’s that they’re taking care of themselves – its that they don’t care about people,” Fahie argued at the time.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×