On Monday, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) held a field hearing in Erie, Pa., to show the impact Opportunity Zone legislation had on the city.
The hearing, part of a year-long effort by U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) to hear how the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act have impacted American before the act’s provisions expire in 2025, was held at the Warner Theater. Kelly said Erie was an example of how beneficial the legislation had been.
“Opportunity Zones were designed to provide tax incentives that encourage long-term private capital investment to revitalize low-income areas. This program was able to facilitate the type of investments that would best serve the community’s needs. With the new Opportunity Zone legislation in TCJA, investors turned to Erie,” Kelly said. “But our work on Opportunity Zones is not yet finished. With several bills in the works to both expand and enhance Opportunity Zones, I look forward to working on these bills and other opportunity zone legislation as we head into 2025.”
Over the past six years, Erie Downtown Development Corporation and community stakeholders have welcomed 110 new residential spaces, created space for 25 new businesses, restored 8 historic properties and revitalized 100,000 square feet of new commercial space. The Erie Opportunity Zone was able to leverage $40 million in private capital into a $115 million investment, officials said. Once one of the poorest ZIP codes in the country, the area is now home to more than $400 million in long-term capital investment revitalizing downtown Erie, officials said.
In September 2023, Kelly introduced legislation that would require mandatory data reporting for Opportunity Zone investment, and extend the investment and deferral window to provide a longer time frame in which to drive more investment into low-income communities.