Earlier this month, the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (HTC-GO) was introduced in the Senate (S. 1459) by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Mark Warner (D-VA), and in the House (H.R. 2941) by Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY).

The bill includes targeted improvements to make the credit more accessible and effective, including a return to a one-year credit structure, eliminating the basis reduction requirement which will support affordable housing projects, and several provisions that support smaller projects and projects located in rural areas.

These updates are designed to build on the HTC’s long-standing success in revitalizing communities, creating jobs, and encouraging private investment in the reuse of historic buildings.

HTC-GO represents a major opportunity to ensure that this proven community development tool is better positioned to meet the needs of both urban and rural areas.

Despite strong bipartisan support for HTC-GO, however, improvements to the incentive were not included in the House Ways and Means Committee’s tax reconciliation package, which passed out of the committee earlier this month.

The Committee bill focuses primarily on extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and advancing the Administration’s top tax priorities.

As a result of the tight spending constraints of the House Reconciliation bill, few opportunities exist to incorporate substantive provisions for community development incentives, including the historic tax credit.

This makes HTC advocacy in the Senate critically needed. The Senate Finance Committee is currently drafting its version of the reconciliation tax bill.

Advocates must take action now to make the most of this opportunity by urging Senators to support including improvements to the HTC in the Senate package.

This is the moment advocates have been waiting for to improve the HTC.

We encourage all historic tax credit supporters to contact their Senators – especially Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee – and urge them to support HTC-GO and include it in the final reconciliation bill.