From Preservation Action:

Today, the House passed the Senate version of the massive budget reconciliation package, also known as 'The Big, Beautiful Bill'. The bill already passed the Senate earlier this week after a series of intense negotiations and delays, so the final bill is now headed to the President's desk for his signature. 

In spite of an outpouring of advocacy efforts throughout the year and especially over the last few weeks, no provisions to improve the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) called for as part of the HTC-GO Act (H.R. 2941, S.1459) were included in the final bill. While the HTC was not improved as part of the bill, it is noteworthy that the HTC was not targeted for elimination or reduction. The final bill did include a permanent extension of the New Market Tax Credit and the Opportunity Zone incentive, and boosted the low-income housing tax credit allocations. Historic rehabilitation projects utilize many of these credits in conjunction with the HTC.

Public Lands Provisions

In addition to the large tax components, the final budget reconciliation bill included a number of provisions related to public lands. The bill rescinds approximately $267 million for National Park Service staffing that Congress already approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. This funding was desperately needed as actions of the current administration have already led to a nearly 17% cut in personnel. These cuts threaten our National Park's natural, cultural, and historic resources. 

The final bill included a $40 million appropriation for the procurement of statues for the controversial "Garden of American Heroes" proposed by President Trump. The administration previously redirected already awarded grants to several arts and cultural groups from the National Endowment of Humanities to the project. 

Fortunately, the final bill did not include a harmful provision that called for selling off up to 3.3 million acres of public lands. 

Next Steps

HTC advocates are eyeing future opportunities to get the much-needed provisions included in the HTC-GO bill across the finish line, including a potential bipartisan tax bill later this year or another budget reconciliation package. 

Thank you for your strong advocacy during consideration of the budget reconciliation bill. We will need your efforts as we continue to build support for HTC-GO in Congress in the weeks and months ahead.