FAU looks forward to working with the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council

President Donald Trump signed an executive order December 12 2018 creating the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. The group, chaired by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, includes representatives from 13 federal agencies. The Council will coordinate federal efforts relating to Opportunity Zones and work to prioritize such neighborhoods for grant funding, loan guarantees, infrastructure spending, and other federal initiatives.

Our tax bill also creates new opportunity zones rewarding those who invest in distressed communities and create more jobs for those who have, too often, simply been left behind.

President Donald J. Trump

The executive order specifically directs the Council to streamline, coordinate, and target existing federal programs to economically distressed areas, including Opportunity Zones. It also directs the Council to consider legislative proposals and regulatory reform to remove barriers to revitalization efforts. The Council will present the President with a number of reports identifying and recommending ways to encourage investment in economically distressed communities.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-establishing-white-house-opportunity-revitalization-council/

Also at the signing ceremony, Secretary Carson commented that, “There are still communities in our country that have seen little or no new investment in generations,” and that the mission of the Council is to “jumpstart the development in urban and rural communities through the creation of Opportunity Zones.” He added, “The Treasury Department estimates that the Opportunity Zone legislation could attract over $100 billion in private investment which will go a long way to spur on jobs and economic development.”

Opportunity Zones can be a powerful vehicle for bringing economic growth and job creation to the American communities that need them the most. 8,761 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones. Nearly 35 million Americans live in communities designated as Opportunity Zones.

In 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which established Opportunity Zones to incentivize long-term investments in low-income communities across the country. These incentives offer capital gains tax relief to investors for new investment in designated Opportunity Zones.