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Fact Sheet - President Donald J. Trump Is Lifting Up American Communities That Have Been Left Behind

April 17, 2019

"We're providing massive tax incentives for private investment in these areas to create jobs and opportunities where they are needed the most." --President Donald J. Trump

ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT: Opportunity Zones will spur private-sector investment to revitalize hurting communities and unleash their economic potential.

  • 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.
  • Opportunity Zones are anticipated to spur $100 billion in private capital investment.
  • Incentivizing investment in low-income communities fosters economic revitalization and job creation and promotes sustainable economic growth across the Nation.

LIFTING UP COMMUNITIES: Opportunity Zones help drive economic growth and lift up communities that have been left behind.

  • Opportunity Zones are a powerful vehicle for bringing economic growth and job creation to the American communities that need them the most.
    • On average, the median family income in an Opportunity Zone is 37 percent below the State median.
    • The average poverty rate in an Opportunity Zone is more than 32 percent, compared with a rate of 17 percent for the average United States census tract.
  • More than 8,760 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.

CREATING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL: President Donald J. Trump is encouraging investment to create opportunity in distressed communities.

  • In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.
    • The Council is chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, and is comprised of 16 Federal agencies.
  • The Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in utilizing the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
  • The Council is improving revitalization efforts by streamlining, coordinating, and targeting existing Federal programs to economically distressed areas, including Opportunity Zones.
    • Lack of coordination and targeting has led to cumbersome applications, program waste, and ineffective benefits.
  • The Council will consider legislative proposals and undertake 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.

Donald J. Trump, Fact Sheet - President Donald J. Trump Is Lifting Up American Communities That Have Been Left Behind Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/334696

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