|
Washington
–
U.S.
Senator
Tim
Scott’s
(R-SC)
bipartisan
Investing
in
Opportunity
Act
was
included
in
the
Tax
Cuts
and
Jobs
Act
as
a
key
provision
that
will
help
economically
distressed
communities.
It
incentivizes
investment
in
economically
distressed
areas
by
allowing
trillions
of
dollars
in
private
capital
to
be
used
to
encourage
small
businesses,
support
entrepreneurs,
and
to
develop
dilapidated
properties
in
zip
codes
most
in
need
of
a
resurgence.
The
New
York
Times
wrote
about
the
provision;
you
can
read
the
article
in
its
entirety
here.
Tucked
Into
the
Tax
Bill,
a
Plan
to
Help
Distressed
America
New
York
Times
Jim
Tankersley
The
law
creates
“Opportunity
Zones,”
which
will
use
tax
incentives
to
draw
long-term
investment
to
parts
of
America
that
continue
to
struggle
with
high
poverty
and
sluggish
job
and
business
growth.
The
provision
is
the
first
new
substantial
federal
attempt
to
aid
those
communities
in
more
than
a
decade.
And
it
comes
as
a
disproportionate
share
of
economic
growth
has
been
concentrated
in
so-called
superstar
metropolitan
areas
like
Los
Angeles
and
New
York.
If
the
zones
succeed,
they
could
help
revitalize
neighborhoods
and
towns
that
are
starved
for
investment.
[…]
The
zones
were
included
in
the
tax
law
by
Senator
Tim
Scott,
a
South
Carolina
Republican
who
was
born
into
poverty
in
North
Charleston,
and
based
on
a
bill
he
co-sponsored
in
2017
with
several
Democrats.
The
effort
to
create
the
zones
was
pushed
by
an
upstart
Washington
think
tank,
the
Economic
Innovation
Group,
and
its
patron,
the
tech
mogul
Sean
Parker,
of
Napster
and
Facebook
fame,
who
enlisted
Mr.
Scott
and
others
to
sponsor
the
legislation.
Mr.
Scott
said
that
he
had
discussed
the
plan
with
Mr.
Trump
and
that
the
president
had
later
spoken
approvingly
of
it.
### |