USVI's overall tax-supported debt was $2 billion on January 23, which is very high considering the moderate population. That translated to a per capita debt of $19,000, which was worse than the per capita debt in Puerto Rico which was undergoing a severe financial crisis at the time. A Debtwire analyst writing in Forbes indicated that nothing short of a miracle would prevent a financial collapse. By February 15, 2017, the GVI was short $110 million in its current budget (structural deficit). Governor Kenneth Mapp issued an executive order that limited the use of government-owned vehicles, puts a freeze on non-essential hiring, suspended wage negotiations, and froze non-essential travel paid for by the GVI. Some jobs are exempt from the hiring freeze: positions of civil servants whose salaries are paid through federal funds, human service workers, teachers, and those working in agencies under federal consent decrees like police and corrections officers. A report from Government House indicated that these steps were necessary "given that cash revenues flowing into the treasury are insufficient to meet current expenses". On February 16, Dept. of Finance Commissioner and Public Finance Authority Executive Director, Valdamier Collens said the government had only two days of cash on hand, instead of the typical 15 or 16 days in recent months. The government introduced a bill labelled as a "sin tax", with a plan to introduce or to increase taxes. Commodities affected would include rum, tobacco products, beer and sugary drinks, as well as timeshare unit owners and internet purchases. "If we are able to pass measures that investors will view as we are addressing our structural deficit, that would bode well to the investors, but they're not going to jump out tomorrow and say, ‘Oh, come back to the market’," Collens said. A coalition consisting of the Chambers of Commerce in the St Croix and St Thomas districts, the USVI Hotel and Tourism Association and American Resort Development Association issued a joint statement on February 14, 2017 asking Governor Kenneth Mapp to withdraw the sin tax bill. The group believes that the additional tax would be a "crushing blow" to business. It recommended an alternative: work "with the private sector to develop the ideas already presented to help alleviate the financial crisis". Mapp's response to the coalition included his understanding of the group's recommended strategies: "For example, the chambers are asking that we slash the salaries of