James Supports Governor's SNAP Relief Effort and Calls for Small-Business Outage Assistance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2026
Contact: Raymond T. James, Esq.
Republican Candidate for the Legislature, District of St. Croix
340-643-7822 | rjames_esq@yahoo.com
James Supports Governor's SNAP Relief Effort and Calls for Small-Business Outage Assistance
CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX - Raymond T. James, Esq., Republican candidate for the Legislature in the District of St. Croix, today expressed support for Governor Albert Bryan Jr.'s effort to obtain food-replacement assistance for eligible SNAP recipients affected by prolonged electrical outages.
"I support the Governor's emergency action on behalf of SNAP households," Mr. James said. "Families should not be forced to absorb the cost of replacing food lost through no fault of their own. We must also recognize that small businesses without generators can suffer similar and sometimes substantial - losses."
Restaurants, neighborhood grocery stores, farmers, fishermen and other food-related businesses can lose thousands of dollars in refrigerated and frozen inventory during extended outages. They may also lose sales, employee work hours and the working capital required to restock and reopen.
Mr. James proposed that the Government of the Virgin Islands evaluate the creation of a Small Business Outage Recovery and Resilience Program using the following framework:
● Rapid grants of up to $5,000 for documented and uninsured losses of perishable inventory.
● Low-interest emergency loans of up to $25,000 for larger inventory losses, refrigeration repairs, replacement stock, backup-power equipment and short-term payroll needs.
● Priority consideration for locally owned small businesses, particularly those employing 20 or fewer people.
● Reasonable documentation, including invoices, photographs, inventory or point-of-sale records, insurance information and confirmation that the business was within the affected outage area.
● Safeguards preventing duplicate compensation from insurance or another assistance program.
● Assistance connecting eligible businesses with existing energy-resilience programs, including available commercial battery incentives.
"These amounts are proposed limits and not promises of automatic payments," Mr. James explained. "The Administration and the Legislature must determine what is financially sustainable and legally permissible. Nevertheless, candidates for public office have a responsibility to offer practical solutions and establish priorities."
Mr. James recommended that the Office of Management and Budget, the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, the Virgin Islands Energy Office and other appropriate agencies review existing economic-development, small-business lending and energy-resilience resources to determine whether any can lawfully support the proposal. If additional legislative authority or an appropriation is required, the Legislature should consider it through an open and fiscally responsible process.
Raymond T. James, Esq. | Republican Candidate | District of St. Croix Page 1
"Assisting small businesses is not simply about protecting business owners," Mr. James said. "When businesses lose inventory, close temporarily or reduce operations, employees lose income, residents lose access to essential goods and the government loses gross receipts tax revenue. Gross receipts taxes are a critical source of funding for public services throughout the Virgin Islands."
Mr. James also called for a clear, territory-wide policy establishing when prolonged or widespread outages should trigger an assessment of household and small-business losses. The policy should identify objective factors such as the duration of the outage, the number of customers affected and the extent of documented losses.
"St. Croix should not have to begin this discussion from the ground up when a similar emergency occurs here," Mr. James stated. "A fair policy must apply consistently to St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island. This is an opportunity to establish a responsible baseline for responding to future outages throughout the territory."
Mr. James concluded: "Supporting vulnerable households and protecting small businesses are not competing priorities. Both are necessary to preserve food security, employment, tax revenue and the economic stability of our islands."
About Raymond T. James, Esq.
Raymond T. James, Esq. is the Republican candidate for the Legislature in the District of St. Croix. He is a former Assistant Attorney General, former chairman of the Government Employees' Retirement System Board, former chairman of the Christiansted Federal Credit Union, and a St. Croix farmer and small-business owner.
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Raymond T. James, Esq. | Republican Candidate | District of St. Croix Page 2
