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January 26, 2008
deJongh: Progress being made on stimulus talks Gov. John P. deJongh Jr. said Saturday that "progress was being made" on the effort to include the Virgin Islands in the economic stimulus bill now being crafted by Congressional negotiators and the Bush Administration. "There is now agreement in principle that special rules are required to ensure that the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories are treated fairly under the stimulus bill and are not left out or unintentionally hurt by it because of the operation of our mirror income tax system," deJongh said. deJongh, who earlier this week sent letters to the chief Congressional negotiators -- including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel -- has been working the phones with House and Senate offices to win special rules to allow Virgin Islands taxpayers to receive tax rebates paid from the federal Treasury rather than from local coffers. DeJongh has been coordinating his efforts with Congressional Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Without the special rules, deJongh said that the stimulus bill could cost the local Treasury some $24-32 million in lost revenues. "There are many details still to be worked out before this is settled, but I am encouraged by the progress we have made so far." |
