Washington, D.C., Congressional offices spilled into the halls Tuesday as representatives held open houses to meet and mingle with friends, family and supporters on the first day of the new Congress, and the office of newly elected Delegate Stacey Plaskett was no exception.
Despite heavy snow outside, a small crowd of Virgin Islanders packed Plaskett’s congressional office in the Cannon House Office Building, chatting, enjoying some kalalloo, red pea soup, pates and other traditional V.I. favorites, while waiting to say hello and wish her well. Many were expatriate Virgin Islanders, like Myrna Roberts, who has lived in the states for nearly 50 years, but has lots family in the territory and gets back when she can. Or Roland Riviere, a St. Thomas native who works in the D.C. school system, and Roxanne Fleming-Coston, a public relations professional in Virginia Beach.
Riviere and Fleming-Coston are both active members of USVI Alliance, an organization formed in 2013 around a mission to bridge the gap between the U.S. Virgin Islands diaspora and the local Virgin Islands community and to collaborate on issues such as economic development, youth and community-based initiatives. And outgoing Delegate Donna Christensen popped by for a little while to chat and mingle and give her support and blessings.
The morning’s snow was a bit of a wild card added to the busy first day of Congress, and the swearing in and first organizational votes were delayed. In one of the first votes, Republicans defeated a Democratic motion to allow nonvoting delegates from the territories and D.C. to vote on the floor. At times in the past, the territory has been allowed such a vote, although it is only symbolic, as the vote is not counted if it is the deciding vote.
Plaskett was finally able to get away around 4 p.m. and meet with friends and supporters in her office. After saying hello and taking a few pictures with her family, she sat down for a short talk with the Source and shared some of her thoughts on the new Congress and what she would like to accomplish.
While Republicans have a large majority and now control both houses of Congress, there may be opportunities to work with Republicans, Plaskett suggested.
"One of the interesting we noted from the speaker’s vote today, … (Speaker of the House John) Boehner (R-OH) came within two votes of having to go to a second round of votes," she said. If Boehner cannot get support from a large portion of the right wing of his party, "despite his large majority he is still going to have to move towards the middle to be effective with this Congress and seek some democrats to side with him to be able to pass legislation," Plaskett said.
She said she is grateful the freshman class of Democrats in Congress named her to the Steering and Policy Committee, "so I’m able to really be involved in some of the discussions that go on within the Democratic Party about how we can attempt to be effective in this Congress." Plaskett was also named the regional whip for the party, for a half dozen states, the USVI and Puerto Rico.
Plaskett’s past Republican ties may come in handy in the new environment, she hopes.
While running for office as a Democrat, Plaskett said, "I was criticized for having been a Republican and for having worked in a Republican administration. But one of the freshmen who is on a very important committee for us, Transportation and Infrastructure, is someone that I worked with at the Justice Department, (Rep.) Barbara Comstock (R-VA). So I have already relationships with some of the Republicans as well as some of the Democrats.”
“Someone who is in our region and is already emerging as a mentor to me is (Rep.) James Clyburn (D-SC), the third ranking member. That is someone who I worked with as a staffer when I worked on the Hill," she said.
Also working with federal agencies is important Plaskett said.
"We are not controlling Congress but we are controlling the executive agencies, and so much that is important to the territories happens in the agencies."
For the next two years, she "will be trying to make inroads in that executive branch," to find not just funding, but to also apply for designations that, for instance, may allow developers to get federal tax credits for construction.
In that same vein, she said she was very pleased when “listening to the inaugural address yesterday.”
“I heard both the lieutenant governor and the governor talking about public-private partnership, because I think from a federal perspective, that an innovative way to bring investment into the territory is to find federal designations to be able to allow private investors to want to develop in the territory."
The U.S. Virgin Islands is able to compete for those, but has not completed the application, she said.
If possible, Plaskett said, she would like her legacy to be about economic development, "because I think that if we grow our economy, by creating new revenues and new jobs, that will assist us in the areas that are plaguing us, which are unemployment, public safety and crime issues and even our education system." If there is more economic activity, there will be more money coming in to pay for public needs, and if there is more federal money, or tax credits, it will free up more local funding, she said.
To help try to get more funding, she said she has given one of her staffers the primary job to make relationships with grant-making agencies at both the federal and local level.
"We know a lot of the money goes back for technical reasons, so if someone in our office helps make sure those technical reasons are met then maybe we won’t send back some of that money," Plaskett said.
One factor that could have a big impact on the territory would be to lift the federal cap on V.I. Medicaid. States receive funding based on need, while territories get much smaller, lump sum payments.
"We are about to go into discussions with Northern Mariana, which has been very aggressive in this area, and they would like us to join with them with legislation that Donna Christensen sponsored," she said, adding that she is sitting down with Christensen later in the week to discuss the Medicaid Cap and other problem issues.
