Press Releases

Virgin Islands Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett issued the following statement on the the President’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget request, which was sent to Congress today:

I am pleased to see the President’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget address some of the critical areas challenging the territories. Improving treatment under federal health and tax credit programs has been an issue I have raised since taking office. The provision in the President’s proposal providing the U.S. Virgin Islands with state-like treatment under Medicaid is based on legislation I co-sponsored in Congress in June of 2015. If enacted, the proposal in the President’s budget will result in increased funding for the territories’ health care systems of $30 billion over the next 10 years. I intend to work with my colleagues in Congress, on both sides of the isle to ensure the U.S. Virgin Islands is included and treated equally under federal programs in the effort to reverse the years of benign neglect to the territories. I thank the Administration for including these proposals in its budget request.

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