Over the last several weeks House and Senate leaders have been negotiating the Build Back Better Act, President Biden's social infrastructure reconciliation package. As a result, the size and scope of the bill has been dramatically reduced from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion.
The draft of the bill released by the House Ways and Means Committee included similar provisions to the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2294, S. 2266), that would temporarily increase the credit to 30% for five years, permanently increase the credit to 30% for projects under $2.5 million, and make several enhancements to improve the credit. While the latest draft of the bill released by the House Rules Committee did bring back some community development tax incentive provisions, HTC provisions were NOT included. The House is expected to pass their version of the Build Back Better Act as early as this week. We need your help to ensure that long overdue provisions to enhance the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) are included in the final bill.
The latest draft of the Build Back Better Act did include $25 million for historic preservation activities over the next five years, and $50 million for National Heritage Area partnerships. We'll continue to advocate for preservation funding to address the demand that additional infrastructure spending places on SHPOs/THPOs and important preservation reviews.
Take Action
The Historic Tax Credit has not been positively updated in 35 years. The provisions under consideration would help address pandemic related challenges impacting HTC projects, make the credit more attractive, especially for smaller projects, and easier to use. Right now, these provisions are NOT in the current bill. Lawmakers need to hear from grassroots advocates like you to ensure these provisions are added back in the final bill. There are several actions you can take!
- Add your name and your organization's name to the Historic Tax Credit sign-on letter being circulated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The letter will be sent to key congressional leadership in the coming days.
- Call your Representative and Senators, urge them to support provisions to enhance the Historic Tax Credit in the reconciliation bill.
- Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators and Representative's office.
- Introduce yourself as a constituent and say something like: “The Historic Tax Credit is the single most important tool for historic preservation. Though the HTC provisions were included in the Ways and Means bill in September, HTC provisions were not included in the recent “Build Back Better” bill. Please make sure to include the HTC provisions in the final reconciliation bill. These provisions would benefit projects from Main Street revitalizations to large-scale rehabilitation while also supporting community revitalization and climate change mitigation.”
- Phone calls to your Senate offices are the priority. However, please feel free to also follow-up by email, especially if you have any contacts in your Representative or Senator's office.
Negotiations are moving quick and the House could vote on the Build Back Better Act as early as today, so time is of the essence. We've provided additional resources and talking points to help with you advocacy efforts. Take action today!
Unless noted, the thoughts and opinions expressed in the article are solely that of the
author and not necessarily the opinion of the editors of PreservationDirectory.com.
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