Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) introduced the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Extension Act of 2023 on Thursday to make the credit a permanent part of the tax code.
The bipartisan legislation is the companion of the Senate bill, S. 234, introduced by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in February. Mirroring the bicameral bills from the 117th Congress, the legislation also establishes a $5 billion annual allocation of tax credits, indexes the allocation to inflation in subsequent years, and provides NMTC investments with an exemption to the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT. The NMTC program is currently set to expire at the end of 2025 and investments in it are also currently exempt from the AMT.
In response to the House bill, Enterprise interim co-CEO and President of capital Lori Chatman said:
“Making the New Markets Tax Credit program a permanent part of the tax code is one of the most concrete steps the 118th Congress could take to spur investment in economically distressed communities—from rural towns to urban neighborhoods, and everywhere in between—and we commend Representatives Tenney and Sewell for leading the way. This proposal is a bipartisan opportunity to add stability and efficiency to a program that has already delivered $120 billion in community assets and created more than 1 million jobs nationwide. At Enterprise, we just financed a project in New York State deploying these tax credits that will preserve and create stronger, more affordable communities.”
That New York State project closed March 2023, creating the GLOW Healthy Living Campus in Batavia, which is located in Rep. Tenney’s district. One of over 100 deals the Enterprise has financed with the NMTC since the program’s inception in 2000, the project includes a Federally Qualified Health Center, or FQHC, and a YMCA covering a combined 78,000 square feet. A blended wellness, fitness, and a full-service primary care medical facility, it will benefit the community in several ways, including:
- Creating 72 predevelopment/construction jobs, 87 permanent jobs and retaining 239 jobs;
- Doubling the people served by the YMCA from 3,000 to 6,000 annually, in addition to serving approximately 3,000 children annually in preschool, after school, camp and sports programming; and
- Growing the patient base for the FQHC portion by 2,400 people, equaling approximately 8,400 patients and 12,525 patient visits per year.
Nationwide, $64 billion in federal allocations have resulted in over 7,500 projects. Of these projects, some 3,500 have been FQHCs, schools, daycare centers, treatment facilities, or apprenticeship programs. The NMTC also financed over 1,700 industrial and manufacturing businesses.
The NMTC Extension Act is one of Enterprise’s top federal policy priorities. Making NMTC permanent will add stability and increase efficiency to this proven public-private partnership for community revitalization by driving capital to communities often left outside the economic mainstream. Making NMTC permanent will also allow for a diversification of the investor community, in addition to growing businesses and community services, job creation, and increased economic opportunity.