U.S. Delegate to the Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett has served as a staff attorney on the House Committee on Ethics, in the George W. Bush Administration at the Department of Justice, changed parties in 2008, and after an unsuccessful run in 2012, was ele cted to represent the islands in 2014. She has since burnished her credentials as a legislator and effective advocate for the territory. Delegate Plaskett holds a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Budget. She is also a member of the New Democrat Coalition, which is committed to pro-economic growth, pro-innovation and fiscally responsible policies.
NCA: What go you into public service and elective office?
Plaskett: My parents are from the Virgin Islands though I was born in New York. Having grown up in both environments, I experienced the adverse effects of bad policy on my community, and it was then, that I decided, the only way I could create change is if I did something about it and that lead me to running for my first elected position.
NCA: What are your top legislative national priorities?
Plaksett: Well, I serve on the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on the Budget, and the House Committee on Agriculture which guides most of my legislative priorities. Equality, wealth creation and economic development are a few of my top-line priorities. As a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, I have worked hard to support local food systems. I introduced bipartisan legislation, the Farm to School Act of 2021, which expands participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Grant Program to preschools, after-school programs and summer food service sites, and increases annual mandatory funding for the program. In addition, I have worked hard to make our democracy and election system work better for everyone. The bill H.R. 1, the For the People Act, includes a wide range of provisions addressing elections and voting, campaign finance, and ethics intended to help make it easier to vote, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and set higher standards of ethics for politicians and government officials. In this bill, I included important amendments like a special commission to study the absence of federal voting rights of U.S. citizens residing in territories of the United States, and lack of equal voting representation in Congress for these nearly 4 million Americans. I’ve also included additional amendments to include the territories in provisions that assist with voter registrations, as well as to apply federal voter protection laws to the territories.
NCA: What are your top USVI priorities?
In my position on the Ways & Means committee, I’ve been able to create additional economic assistance for my constituents. I have sponsored several long-term economic development initiatives for my constituents, such as legislation that was recently passed by the House to designate the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands as a National Heritage Area. I am also working to correct the unequal treatment of U.S. territories in important federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Security Income Program and even recently cuts to formulas for federal highway funding. I will be reintroducing legislation in the coming weeks, known as the Territories Health Equity Act, to lift funding caps put in place on the territories under Medicaid, and to eliminate other inequities facing the U.S. islands under Medicare and other federal health programs.
NCA: Let’s say you’re going out for a round of golf or sailing for the day. Who makes up your ideal group? One Democrat, one Republican and one celebrity and why?
Plaskett: If I had an ideal foursome to play a round of golf with, for my democrat, I would select Rep. Andre Carson, who as a former DJ, would have a fantastic play list or Rep. Yvette Clarke who also grew up in Brooklyn and whom I bond with musically. As for a Republican, it would of course be my Caribbean sister, Jennifer Gonzalez Colon of Puerto Rico or Rodney Davis of Illinois, who I sat next to in Agriculture as a freshman and shared whispered jokes. And though she is no longer with us, my celebrity fourth would have been my “Shero,” Shirley Chisholm; for all she did to advance women’s rights both in and outside of the Congress