The House Ways and Means Committee voted Thursday to lift the cap on the return of the excise taxes on Virgin Islands rum from July 1 to Oct. 30 of this year.
Delegate Donna Christian-Christiansen said, "Chairman Bill Archer has gone on record in favor of lifting the cap on the return of our rum taxes. This means is that we will get $13.50 per proof gallon rather than the $10.50 we currently receive."
Before that, however, the measure has to go to the Senate Finance Committee and from there to the full Senate for a vote, then back to the House of Representatives for the final vote.
The rum tax issue is part of the larger Caribbean Basin Initiative bill.
There is only enough money left in this budget to lift the cap through October 1999, thus the three-month period, according to Christensen.
"While this action today would only provide one quarter of the dollars that we would get in an entire year, it paves the way towards achieving our ultimate goal of having the cap lifted permanently," Christensen said.