Chorus of Congressional Leaders Urges Permanency for Community Development Tax Credit

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Coalition submitted testimony to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy urging permanence for the credit. The subcommittee held a hearing last week, allowing Members of Congress to submit their proposals for tax legislation. Congressman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Ranking Member on the subcommittee, as well as Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) expressed support for the NMTC during the hearing. The subcommittee is allowing testimony to be submitted for the record until Thursday, May 26th.

Earlier this year, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) created six committee-led task forces, which are charged with "developing a bold, pro-growth agenda that will be presented to the country in the months ahead." House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) leads the Tax Reform Task Force and is expected to release a report on his tax reform proposal in June. The Subcommittee hearing was a part of the effort to craft this plan.

The testimony, which was authored by the NMTC Coalition's Board President Robert Davenport, calls for the NMTC to be made permanent. Davenport is a longtime NMTC practitioner and is the President of the National Development Council, which was founded in 1969 to create economic opportunity in low income communities.

"The NMTC meets an important and critical need for private-sector investment in economically distressed urban and rural communities. It blends the market incentive of Jack Kemp's Enterprise Zones with the flexible community-driven approach of Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act. Furthermore, data on the impact of the NMTC shows that it has not only achieved its purpose, but it has done so at a relatively low cost to the federal government, particularly when compared to traditional economic development grant programs," writes Davenport.

This comes on the heels of a bipartisan sign-on letter led by Reps. Steve Stivers (R-OH), José E. Serrano (D-NY), and Mike Turner (R-OH) to Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX). The letter, which was sent on May 19th, was signed by fifty-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bob Rapoza, spokesperson for the NMTC Coalition noted the importance of this letter. "The Stivers-Serrano-Turner letter demonstrates solid bipartisan support for the NMTC, which is the direct result of the program's proven outcomes to grow businesses and local economies, including maintaining and creating over 750,000 jobs since 2003," said Rapoza.

The NMTC Coalition will be meeting in Washington, D.C. next week on June 1st for its annual NMTC Policy Conference. During the event, the Coalition will release its 2016 NMTC Progress Report, which is the 12th edition of the report.  It provides data and detailed insights into how the NMTC was used in 2015, including the types of businesses financed, the communities benefitting from the investing, and the impacts of these investments at both the community and national level.

About New Markets Tax Credit Program
The New Markets Tax Credit was enacted in 2000 in an effort to stimulate private investment and economic growth in low income urban neighborhoods and rural communities that lack access to the patient capital needed to support and grow businesses, create jobs, and sustain healthy local economies. The NMTC is a 39 percent federal tax credit, taken over seven years, on investments made in economically distressed communities. Today due to NMTC, more than $75 billion is hard at work in underserved communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.NMTCCoalition.org.

Contact: Ayrianne Parks
[email protected]
(202) 393-5225

SOURCE New Markets Tax Credit Coalition