From Preservation Action:

This week, the Senate Finance Committee released their portion of the Senate's budget reconciliation tax bill, which includes several key components of the reconciliation package. Unfortunately, the bill did not include any provisions to improve and modernize the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) long sought by preservation advocates. The House version of the bill passed the House in May and also did not include HTC provisions. The Senate plans to pass their version of budget reconciliation tax bill by the July 4th holiday. 

While HTC provisions were not included, Senate leadership is still making adjustments to the bill. So there's still opportunities for advocates to push for much-needed changes to the HTC before the bill is taken up by the full Senate, but time is running out. One of preservations biggest champions in the Senate, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), is continuing to push leadership to include HTC improvement provisions, but he needs the support of other Senators to get these positive changes included.

Take Action!

Reach out to your Senators, especially Republican Senators in following states AK, AL, AR, FL, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MS, MO, MT, NE, NC, ND, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, WV, WI, WY. Remind Senators that the HTC is a critical tool for revitalization that creates jobs and more than pays for itself, but has lost significant value over the last 12 years. The HTC desperately needs to be improved and Sen. Cassidy is working to include provisions outlined in the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S.1459) in the reconciliation package. Ask your Senators to reach out to Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), and express their support for including much needed improvements to the HTC in the reconciliation bill.

If you have a contact in your Senator's office, contact that person directly. If not, contact the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator's office. If you need any assistance tracking down contact information, reach out to Rob Naylor at Preservation Action (rnaylor@preservationaction.org). Be sure to check out our Action Alert for more information!