In this special report CDFA documents the current status of the Opportunity Zones incentive in states around the country. Using both statistical and anecdotal information gathered from recent surveys and conversations, CDFA highlights the work being done by states as they prepare for the first Opportunity Fund investments.

Introduced by Sens. Menendez and Crapo, the "Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act" would stimulate private investment in drinking water and wastewater systems by modifying the tax code to remove state volume caps on the issuances of government private activity bonds.

In an ideal world, Opportunity Zones designations will infuse capital into low-income, historically marginalized communities. But without clear guidelines in place, will those benefits materialize? This profile from Next City features CDFA VP Katie Kramer, in addition to other close partners of CDFA.

Berkeley, CA plans on becoming the first municipality in the country to issue municipal bonds using the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrency. The project is the brainchild of Mayor Jesse Arreguín and Vice Mayor Ben Bartlett and is being billed as a way to make investing in municipal bonds more accessible than ever.

State and local governments have promised a minimum of $1.6 billion in corporate subsidies to Amazon since 2000. The company's HQ2 search could double that amount. Arlington, TX, was prepared to offer nearly $1 billion in state and local subsidies, while Atlanta and Columbus, OH are reportedly offering more than $2 billion.

The number of business lenders in the UK have exploded since 2008, but business lenders are not regulated and there is a lack of transparency about their offers. As a result lenders do not have to show the cost of borrowing in any particular way, and borrowers are unable to determine the total cost of the loan.

The bonds are a financing tool in which repayment to investors is linked to the achievement of a desired environmental outcome. In this case, the outcome is sustained wetlands that help curb land loss and provide risk reduction for coastal residents and businesses. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received 62 letters of interest collectively requesting $9.1 billion in loans from a wide range of prospective borrowers in response to the WIFIA program's 2018 NOFA.

A coalition of South Bay cities and other local agencies were recently awarded $177 million in federal funding to improve levees along Santa Clara County's bayshore. In San Francisco, voters will decide in November whether to approve a $425 million bond measure to strengthen a seawall.

Indiana's Purdue University will price $104 million of student fee bonds at the beginning of September to finance projects on multiple campuses. Proceeds will pay for the costs of the renovation of the school's Agricultural and Biological Engineering Building and the school's new Bioscience Innovation Building.

Facilities at West Virginia's state parks and forests are set to receive a thorough shine-up through up to $80 million in bonds authorized by the state Economic Development Authority. The agency will use the bonds for various improvement projects at state parks and recreational areas of state forests, with a focus on infrastructure.

During this course, attendees will walk through the entire brownfields redevelopment process from understanding the basics of brownfields and legal and regulatory challenges to unearthing the myriad financing tools available to both clean-up and build-up these contaminated or polluted sites.

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