Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) introduced legislation on Tuesday designed to spur investment and jumpstart job creation in low-income communities.
The new legislation would make permanent the New Markets Tax Credit program that provides private investors with a 39 percent federal tax credit for investments made in businesses or economic development projects in some of the most distressed communities in the nation. The bill’s co-sponsors are Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
“The New Markets Tax Credit program has already had a positive impact in Missouri, leading to more than $2 billion in investments and thousands of jobs,” Blunt said. “I’m glad to support this bipartisan bill to make this tax credit permanent so that we can continue to encourage investment, growth and job creation in low-income communities nationwide.”
The NMTC program in Missouri can be traced either directly or indirectly to the creation of nearly 24,000 jobs between 2003-2010. More than 100 Missouri businesses have utilized the tax credit since it was created, for projects totaling $2.1 billion in investments between 2003-2010. Missouri ranks fifth in the United States in terms of the dollar amount of the tax credits in the state.
Congress first authorized the NMTC program as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. The fiscal cliff deal included a two-year extension of the tax credit program with $3.5 billion in annual credit authority provided for 2012 and 2013.