This week, the U.S. Senate released a draft of its sweeping tax reconciliation package, and tucked inside is a provision that could permanently secure one of the territory’s most important revenue streams: the rum cover-over at $13.25 per proof gallon.

If enacted, the move would protect more than $1 billion in future funding for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico—dollars that currently support everything from pensions and public safety to schools and infrastructure. But while the provision’s inclusion in the Senate version of the bill is a significant victory, the deal isn’t done yet.

The bill – known as H.R. 1, or the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – still has to clear the full U.S. Senate, where a vote could happen as early as this week. If it passes, it must then be reconciled with the House version, which does not include the rum provision. Only after both chambers agree on final language will the bill head to U.S. President Donald Trump’s desk for signature.

Without congressional action, the $13.25 rate is set to drop back to $10.50 per proof gallon after December 2025, slashing the Virgin Islands’ share of cover-over revenue by more than 20 percent. In strong production years, the territory receives around $200 million in cover-over payments—meaning a rollback could result in an estimated $40 million annual loss, depending on rum production levels and mainland consumption trends.

That drop would hit hard at a time when the dollars are needed most to stabilize the pension system, fund essential services, and maintain investor confidence in the territory’s long-term fiscal outlook.

 “This marks an important step toward greater economic certainty and fiscal stability for the Virgin Islands,” Gov. Albert Bryan Jr in a statement Saturday. “If this bill is signed into law, it will not only prevent a rollback to $10.50 per gallon—it will ensure the necessary revenues that support our pension system, public services, and economic development over the next decade.”

The Senate’s addition of the provision came after months of lobbying by Bryan, Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González-Colón, and Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who has championed the issue in the House through bipartisan legislation (H.R. 1378) with Republican Congressman Ron Estes. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee, was instrumental in inserting the provision into the Senate’s draft—a move Bryan called in a news release Saturday proof of what consistent federal engagement can accomplish.

“Senator Crapo gave me his commitment, and he followed through,” Bryan said. “His support and the Senate’s action reflect the effectiveness of our direct and persistent engagement at the federal level.”

But Plaskett – who earlier introduced the House version and offered an amendment in committee to draw bipartisan support – also cautioned that the inclusion is not final. “While I cannot support the bill in its entirety,” she said, “I applaud the Senate’s provision to permanently provide the increased rum cover-over rate of $13.25, effective Dec. 31, 2025.”

She emphasized that the measure is not retroactive, meaning the territory will not recover the higher rate lost between January 2022 and December 2025. “This is not the first version of this bill, and we cannot guarantee that this provision will be included in the final version,” Plaskett said. “I am hopeful that the increased rum cover-over rate remains in the bill.”

The broader bill, which includes deep Medicaid cuts and tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats and some community advocates. Still, for the Virgin Islands, the rum cover-over fix could be the most consequential provision in the entire package.

Bryan acknowledged that the fight is not over but remains optimistic. “We’re not done yet—but we’re in a stronger position today than we were just weeks ago,” he said. “This is the kind of federal result that comes from building a presence in Washington and working with Delegate Plaskett and other congressional leaders speaking up with one voice for the people we serve.”

Plaskett said she will keep working to that the territory’s interests are protected in any final tax legislation.

“This provision is a recognition of the value our rum industry brings to the U.S. economy—and the critical role cover-over plays in our fiscal future,” she said.

Hot fun under a hot sun was served up fresh at the 2025 St. John Celebration Food Fair. Those in search of a sip, a munch, or a meal lined up at an array of vendors’ tables to enjoy lunchtime on a Saturday afternoon.

It was made possible in part by the Department of Tourism Division of Festivals and a committee of volunteers, but most of all by the cooks, bakers, farmers, and producers of specialty food and drinks.

The Source would like to take this opportunity to introduce our readers to some of the folks who serve up V.I. culture and tradition at the end of a fork, starting with the 2025 Food Fair Honoree, Barbara Hendricks.

Hendricks, the daughter of Austin and Helen Hendricks and twin sister to retired police officer Bernard Hendricks, is a retired social worker. She said she learned how to bake from her mother and grandmother. She took her talents for turning out tarts and treats to another level starting in 2013. Three years later, she became a fixture at St. John food fairs.

After accepting her plaque and flowers as this year’s honoree, Hendricks thanked “friends, my family, my supporters, my customers — most of all — for being there, being supportive, and, you know, just being good.”

She also offered special thanks to her daughter, Atara, who encouraged her to start a small business. One of her best-known products is a tray of two-bite mini tarts in assorted flavors. She also offers native fruit preserves, banana bread, potato pudding, and all occasion cakes.

Jane Johannes is a legend in St. John Celebration history. One of the founders of the fete from the mid-1950s, Johannes, said her cooking skills began in school. “That’s just after World War Two,” she said, and her pots have been steaming ever since.

Fried fish, fried chicken, and red pea soup with pigtail were her initial offerings in Celebration’s early days. Then came kallaloo and the popular seafood kallaloo.

“I cook my food every day before I come here — everything fresh,” Johannes said.

And along the way, a family enterprise formed around those Food Fair delights with children and grandchildren getting in the act.

“Everybody’s happy. Everybody has to do their share,” Johannes said.

Karen Samuel is a multi-talented cultural artist — fine arts painter, dress designer, quilt maker, and a former art teacher. Her cooking and baking skills came from her mother, Doris Samuel.

She is known for her tarts, saltfish cakes and pates, native drinks, and preserves.

“She was an excellent cook, and she was also a seamstress … I had an older sister, so she was my mother’s assistant. And so I observed, but I actually didn’t do anything until my mother was gone,” Samuel says. “I knew what it was supposed to taste like. And my sister had institutional cooking, so she was able to transfer the recipes that were for large quantities down to, for four to 10 people. And with that, I started trying to make some of the things that I liked that she had made for us most for children. And that’s kind of where we are right now.”

After a heaping helping of fish and johnny cake, or stewed mutton, or whatever tickles the palate, Jennifer Williams has something to help her customers wash it down — ginger beer, cucumber-ginger drink, peanut punch, or maybe a little passion fruit wine. After 15 years of serving Vienna cake by the slice, johnny cakes, tarts, and native drinks, Williams says she’s adopted a timetable to bring the best of the fresh to Food Fair customers.

“I start baking two days before I do the time? And then the day before I do the cake. But the drinks I can do like three days before or four days before I can do the drink, and I freeze them. So when I bring them, they’re frozen, you know, so when you get your drink, it’s cold and refreshing,” she said.

Williams credits her mom for passing on her baking skills and coworkers for encouraging her to make her treats available to a wider consumer base.