Blunt proposes permanent tax credit to stimulate development in nation’s underserved areas

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) on March 12 sponsored a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would permanently extend the new markets tax credit to incentivize development projects in America’s underserved communities, among several other provisions.

Sen. Blunt unveiled the New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2019, S. 750, along with lead cosponsor U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) to promote investments in underserved communities by permanently authorizing a 39 percent federal tax credit for businesses or economic development projects.

“The New Markets Tax Credit is a critical tool for encouraging new investment in areas that need it most,” Sen. Blunt said on Tuesday. 

Companion legislation, the same-named H.R. 1680, has been introduced in the U.S. House by U.S. Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Terri Sewell (D-AL).

If enacted, the measure would authorize the tax credit in areas with poverty rates of at least 20 percent or median incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median, according to Sen. Blunt’s statement.

“This program has a successful record of expanding economic opportunities and improving quality of life in areas across our state, whether it’s financing a training center for sheet metal workers in St. Louis or the first new grocery store in more than a generation in Pagedale,” said Sen. Blunt. “This program benefits families and local economies and urban and rural areas alike.”

For instance, the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program is responsible either directly or indirectly for establishing more than 42,000 jobs from 2003 to 2015 in Sen. Blunt’s home state of Missouri, he said, and it has benefited 274 Missouri businesses and economic revitalization projects that have resulted in a total of almost $4 billion in new investments.

Likewise, Sen. Cardin said that in his home state of Maryland, the NMTC program has funded a variety of infrastructure and community development efforts, including an affordable housing project to provide apartments for educators and teachers in Baltimore, to a multicultural center for low-income minority families in Langley Park, Md. 

“I am pleased once again to be a supporter of this bipartisan legislation, which will create jobs and stimulate our economy in communities across Maryland and across America,” he said, noting that he and Sen. Blunt introduced similar legislation during the 115th Congress.

In addition to making the NMTC permanent, the legislation would increase annual NMTC allocations, index future allocations to inflation, and exempt NMTC investments from the Alternative Minimum Tax, according to Sen. Blunt’s statement.

S. 750 has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, while H.R. 1680 is under review by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.