The bill, which passed in the House, 233-188, is massive in its scope with $1.5 trillion for priorities such as schools, hospitals, housing, broadband, drinking water, stormwater, the energy grid, and vehicle safety. The Moving Forward Act includes several bond financing provisions, makes the NMTC permanent, gives LIHTC a major boost, delays the phasedown of the ITC, and increases the Historic Tax Credit, among many other provisions.

A bipartisan bill included in House Democrats' larger infrastructure package would expand the use of tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance small to mid-sized manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act would change certain definitions to try to expand the use of small issue manufacturing bonds, known as industrial development bonds, and first-time farmer bonds, often referred to as aggie bonds.

New language in an infrastructure bill introduced by House Democrats would undo limitations on advance refunding bonds put in place by the 2017 tax law in addition to offering other tax incentives aimed at financing building and rehabilitation projects.

H.R.2 includes provisions to establish a permanent minimum 4 percent rate for the LIHTC, increase the annual LIHTC allocation amount, temporarily reduce the test for bond-financed housing to 25 percent and permanently extend the NMTC at $5 billion, increase the historic tax credit (HTC) applicable percentage from to 30 percent for five years and delay the phasedown of the renewable energy investment tax credit (ITC) until 2026.

The new Qualified Infrastructure Bonds, which are modeled after Build America Bonds, would have their direct-pay subsidies phase lower to 38% in 2025, 34% in 2027, and 30% permanently thereafter. The legislation also would restore tax-exempt advance refunding 30 days following enactment into law and authorize the issuance of $30 billion in qualified school infrastructure bonds (QSIBs) over three years.

Certified by the Treasury Department, the nation's more than 1,000 CDFIs provide credit to underserved communities in urban and rural areas. They typically match the public dollars they receive with private funds, which can be as much as 12 times the government's investment. Without additional help from Congress, many CDFIs are worried about the stability of their balance sheets and their ability to ramp up financing to the communities and small businesses lawmakers themselves say need special attention in the pandemic.

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Coalition is once again organizing a sign-on letter in support of an NMTC extension. This letter also calls for additional funds to communities to recover from the COVID crisis. Please sign your organization onto this letter in support of additional NMTCs to address the COVID-19 crisis.

In mid-April, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a novel plan to connect struggling farmers directly with families dealing with virus-related loss of income: The aptly named Farmers to Families Food Box program would pay distributors to purchase produce, dairy, and meat; package the food into boxes; and deliver those boxes to churches, schools, and food banks. As of July 1, the USDA is 10 million boxes and 25 percent short of its forecasted delivery.

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) announced the deployment of $10 million in CARES Act funding to the network of MBDA Business Centers and national minority chambers of commerce. The grants will be used for education, training, and advising small and minority business enterprises in their recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $9.5M in grants to eight marine highways projects across the Nation under the America's Marine Highway Program. The funding supports the enhancement of navigable waterways and expands existing waterborne freight services. Of the eight projects that were awarded grants, seven are located in Opportunity Zones.

Due to COVID-19, the IRS released Notice 2020-49, which extends certain time criteria related to the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. Under the notice, any due dates for making investments, making reinvestments, and expending amounts for the construction of real property that would have fallen between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, are extended until December 31, 2020.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced the allocation of $2.96 billion in Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) funding to support homeless Americans and individuals at risk of becoming homeless because of hardships such as job loss, wage reduction, or illness due to COVID-19.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $11 billion in energy-cost savings by more than 950 public and private sector organizations in DOE's Better Buildings Initiative. To date, partners have saved nearly 1.8 quadrillion British thermal units of energy, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 27 million homes in America over one year.

The IRS released Opportunity Zones Guidance that extends the 180-day window to invest capital gains in qualified opportunity funds, suspends the 30-month substantial improvement period, and more.

The Federal Reserve is expanding the number and types of local governments eligible to use its short-term muni note program. The central bank said it would allow all U.S. states to be able to have at least two cities or counties eligible to directly issue notes to its Municipal Liquidity Facility program regardless of population.