(Washington, DC, September 29, 2005) — Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen joined Lt. Governor Vargrave Richards, members of Governor Turnbull’s financial management team and several private sector members in a series of meetings with key Members of Congress to continue the territory’s efforts to secure reasonable rules for the Economic Development Commission (EDC) incentives program in the wake of the changes made last year by the implementation of the USAJOBS Act and subsequent Internal Revenue Service regulations.

“We met with several key members of the House and Senate over the course of Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday,” Christensen said.  “We were able to present our case for the possibility of legislation to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee as well as to the Majority Whip of the House and the New Majority Leader, Roy Blunt,” she continued.

The USA Jobs Act which passed the Congress and was signed into law by President Bush last October, requires a person to reside in the territory for 183 days a year to be considered a bona fide resident and it makes U.S. source income ineligible for consideration for EDC tax benefits.   The Treasury Department in April of this year issued temporary regulations which essentially reaffirmed the JOBSAct with few exceptions.  Delegate Christensen, as well as both Virgin Islands government and private officials testified at a July Treasury Department public hearing on the regulations, to urge changes before the regulations are made final. 

“Our meetings with Chairman Charles Grassley and Ranking Member Max Baucus were encouraging because they had the opportunity to hear directly from private sector individuals who were affected by the JOBSAct changes,” Christensen said.   “While they continued to urge Treasury to make the final regulations amenable to the territory, they also expressed a willingness to work with us should we need to enact corrective legislation,” Christensen concluded.