ST. CROIX — Virgin Islanders for Plaskett Association Corporation, which is responsible for the Team Plaskett Facebook page, has sponsored an advertisement stating Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett “secured a permanent increase in the rum cover-over rate.”
The text associated with the ad reads: “Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett secured a permanent increase in the rum cover-over rate, bringing an additional $60 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands each year. The permanent rate means millions more to strengthen our economy and secure our future.”
This message conflicts with Governor Albert Bryan Jr.’s documented efforts in successfully securing a permanent increase in the rum cover-over rate after lobbying Republicans in the Senate this summer.
Bryan described the ad about Plaskett’s role in “securing” the permanent increase in the rum cover-over rate as “highly inaccurate.” He noted his administration’s effort to lobby Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) for inclusion of the permanent extension of the rum cover-over rate in the Senate’s amendment to H.R. 1., known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA).
“The delegate has a contentious relationship with the Republicans, and there was no confidence from the delegate’s office that we were going to get this,” Bryan said by phone. “They told us that it was unlikely, that we would not get the rum cover-over done, but we got it done.”
When contacted about the ad, Plaskett expressed having knowledge of its content as well as a recent Team Plaskett Facebook post in which the caption above a video message from Plaskett stated that she “helped secure” the permanent cover-over rate.
“This is something we’ve been working on for a number of years,” Plaskett said by phone. “It didn’t happen overnight.”
Bryan noted that no Democrat in Congress voted for the OBBBA, questioning how Plaskett secured inclusion in the bill of the permanent extension of the rum cover-over rate.
“How can you take credit when you don’t have a vote, your party didn’t vote, and you didn’t get it on the bill?” he asked.
Bryan said the accomplishment of getting the permanent extension included in the bill fell squarely to his administration and the work it did with Crapo.
“We’re trying to honor Senator Crapo for actually getting this done, because he solely got it on the bill to be considered, and then made sure it stayed on there,” he said.
Bryan and members of his staff met with Crapo in Washington, D.C. in June while lobbying for the permanent extension of the rum cover-over at the $13.25 per proof-gallon rate. Bryan highlighted the efforts of Governor Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico) to help secure the permanent extension, noting she is a friend of the Trump administration. He noted that Crapo would not have championed the inclusion of the permanent extension in the federal legislation if it were not for his lobbying efforts.
Bryan further discussed a meeting during which he requested Plaskett to limit her involvement, noting that everybody knows she does not have a good relationship with Republicans.
“There’s a video with the delegate chastising the Treasury secretary, [Scott] Bessent,” he said. “If we don’t have a vote in Congress, this is a pretty reckless move to be taking as a delegate. Because of that, we were not included with the GILTI tax.”
GILTI, or Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, is a tax introduced as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that initially applied to U.S. companies who own more than 50% of a foreign corporation, discouraging companies from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions. The OBBBA made key changes to the existing GILTI law, including renaming it to Net CFC (controlled foreign corporations) Tested Income (NCTI), reducing the deduction rate to 40% from 50%, and increasing the foreign tax creditability for NCTI to 90%, providing a more favorable tax treatment for U.S. shareholders.
Plaskett previously worked on legislation to temporarily, as well as permanently, set the rum cover-over rate at $13.25.
Most recently, in February, Representative Ron Estes (R-Kansas), sponsored a bill, as amended by Plaskett, a Democrat and co-sponsor, to temporarily lock in the $13.25 rate until 2032 that was unsuccessful.
There was also a bipartisan effort in 2023 by Plaskett, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), and then-Representative González-Colón to permanently increase the cover-over rate to $13.25 per proof gallon from $10.50 that was unsuccessful. In 2023, there was a Democratic president, Joe Biden, and a Democratic-controlled Senate.
In 2021, when the Democratic Party controlled the House, Senate, and the presidency, Plaskett and González-Colón introduced legislation to make the higher rum cover-over rate permanent that was unsuccessful.
Cover-over revenues fund a wide range of government priorities in the territory, including the Government Employees’ Retirement System, public education, health care, law enforcement, infrastructure improvements, climate resilience projects, job creation, and workforce development initiatives, according to a Government House statement issued on June 28.
Plaskett, in her own statement issued on June 28, applauded the inclusion of the permanent cover-over rate for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the Senate’s amendment, noting the measure also cut Medicaid “massively” while providing “massive” tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
“While I cannot support the bill in its entirety, I applaud the Senate’s provision to permanently provide the increased rum cover-over rate of $13.25, effective December 31, 2025,” Plaskett said in her statement.
Bryan said he hates playing “credit wars,” noting now is the beginning of what he termed as “silly season.”
“Everybody’s getting ready to run for what they want to run for, but I think I’m going to have to constantly correct the record as we move forward in terms of what the Bryan administration has accomplished and what other people are going to want to claim to be their claim to fame or their wins along this last eight year journey,” he said.
