Frett-Gregory Drafts Bill to Use $40 Million in Excise Tax Revenue to Secure Hundreds of Millions in Funding for G.E.R.S.

In what may be one of the most consequential legislation submissions in recent memory because it relates to the survival of the territory's pension system, Senator Donna Frett-Gregory has in the works through a bill request (BR) a measure that seeks to use the roughly $40 million in excise tax revenues that the territory can once again collect to secure a credit facility to buttress the flailing Government Employees' Retirement System. When the V.I. District Court in Nov. 2018 issued a ruling halting the collection of excise taxes, the territory went two years without what it thought was needed revenue to meet budget projections. But the government not only survived without the $40 million, it raised gov't employees' salaries and managed two years without the funds.  Last year, Ms. Frett-Gregory realized that those funds could one day become available and be used to secure a bond large enough to underpin G.E.R.S. with a credit facility (loan), according to the senator, who spoke to t...