Legislature Corner

Senator Samuel Carrión introduced the Occupancy Tax Efficiency Act noting the large amount of money that was apparently being “left on the table” and the tremendous success of the Virgin Islands Government’s agreement with Airbnb

Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, released the following statement regarding the passage of the Build Back Better Act in the House of Representatives.

“This will certainly prove beneficial as the territory poised itself to be favorably looked at in the investor market. The elimination of this debt places the territory to potentially see lower interest rates, which provides for greater opportunity for increased refunding bond capacity.”

Sen. Samuel Carrion of St. Croix writes about Hispanic Heritage and the contributions of the Hispanic people who live in the Virgin Islands.

Joseph’s office budget funded the placement of young people to work at a government agency or non-profit organizations.

Sen. Kenneth Gittens, chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture, advises the public it will be discussing issues, concerns and initiatives related to local agriculture and fishing, emphasizing matters that impact small business people working in these industries.

Over the past few months, the U.S. Department of Treasury has loosened restrictions regarding the funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program yet there are no accompanying changes to the requirements and regulations of the local rental assistance program.,

“These are lucrative, sustainable industries, and it is up to us to take the crisis of the refinery shutdown and turn it into an opportunity for true economic diversification,” Sen. Gittens said.

Sen. Samuel Carrión, a former student of the ESL program on St. Croix, became very concerned with the responses given by representatives from the V.I. Department of Education.