Jan. 24, 2009 — V.I. officials are "cautiously optimistic" that the territory will receive its fair share of funding needed to help jump-start the local economy, thanks mainly to work with congressional leaders on the makeup of the new federal economic stimulus package.
According to a statement Friday by Gov. John deJongh Jr., "Since mid-October, my administration has been working directly with congressional leadership through the assistance of Delegate Donna Christensen and with members of the Obama administration since the election, when it became clear that the nation’s worsening economic conditions would require a significant new stimulus program."
A $700-million capital improvement package — outlining, among other things, various road, school construction, health care facility and energy projects — was submitted last month by the governor to President Barack Obama’s transition team. The projects, many of them from the V.I. government’s multi-year capital plan, would be ready to go either 180 days or 18 months after the stimulus bill is signed into law, according to the statement.
While the bill could change as it makes its way through the House and Senate, it appears that "our early efforts are bearing fruit and that the Virgin Islands will do well in the bill," the governor said, noting that the territory is expected to receive funding for a number of road, mass transit, port, education and health care projects. The final stimulus bill is not expected to specify exactly where the funds should go; instead, the territory would be given money to spend on "broad categories" such as roads and bridges, health care and green energy projects, the release said.
If the money is not spent within a certain timeframe, it will be returned to the federal government and redistributed to other states or territories that are able to quickly put it to use.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has also agreed to include a provision in the bill that would reimburse the territory for any revenue losses from the tax cuts factored in for middle class and working families, deJongh said.
"The reimbursement provision alone, if it stays in the bill, will be worth a total of $50 million to $60 million for the Virgin Islands over the next two years, while providing individual taxpayers a tax cut of $500 a year and $1,000 for couples," the governor said. "Without the provision, the Virgin Islands would be forced to absorb the loss from the tax cuts."
Conversations with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Rangel and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., among others, have touched on other issues — such as raising the local Medicaid cap. The governor is also working with Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., to increase funding for the territory’s SCHIP program, which provides health coverage for uninsured children, the release said.
The final price tag on federal stimulus package is now expected to total about $825 billion over two years, with approximately $300 billion for tax relief, according to the release.
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