Former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law aimed at opportunity zones was an early target of then-candidate Joe Biden, who vowed to reform the tax cut criteria once in office. The New York Times reports that the President intends to make good on that promise, as a new study finds that the law was not as effective as the last administration reported.
Opportunity zones give tax breaks to investors who develop in such designated areas as high-poverty communities, but also some that are quickly gentrifying. As the Times notes, Trump praised the opportunity zone law, boasting that large amounts of investment were coming into impoverished neighborhoods.
A new study released last week, however, finds the impact was far less significant.
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley found that in 2019, only about 16 percent of the 8,000 census tracts nationwide that were designated by state officials as opportunity zones using criteria set under the Trump administration received any investment at all. Rural areas received almost no investment.
In other words, that areas that opportunity zones were most-expected to benefit received little to no investment.
The Times reports that both critics and supporters have urged the current administration to act unilaterally, and to urge Congress to pass new legislation to improve the zones and investment in projects that will benefit people and businesses in impoverished rural, urban and suburban swaths of the country.
While Biden’s plans remain unclear, the administration says they remain committed in their efforts to increase transparency and affordable housing investment in the zones.
You can read the full New York Times piece here.