President Trump has signed the final tax bill, which will maintain the entire current category of Private Activity Bonds (PABs). The future of PABs had been in jeopardy since the November 2nd release of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which repealed in full the tax exemption for PABs. CDFA and its partners have tirelessly advocated in defense of PABs, and the full inclusion of PABs in the final bill represents a major legislative victory for the development finance industry.

Even though private activity bonds escaped the GOP's final compromise tax package unscathed, Republicans could try imposing limits on those bonds as a means of financing the administration's infrastructure plans.

The final tax bill will preserve PABs and tax-exempt bonds for professional sports stadiums. However, advance refundings and tax credit bonds are eliminated by this bill effective January 1, 2018. Tim Fisher of CDFA is quoted in the piece.

Alongside PABs, the final tax bill will preserve the low income housing tax credit, the new markets tax credit, the historic tax credit, the renewable energy investment tax credit, and the production tax credit.

Alongside the preservation of PABs, LIHTC, NMTCs, and HTC, the final GOP tax bill will include the Investing in Opportunity Act. The Investing in Opportunity Act enables states to establish "opportunity zones" where investors are able to defer capital gains as long as they invest in existing or new businesses. 

Hawkins Delafield & Wood provide an overview of how the final H.R. 1 conference report will impact tax-exempt bonds. While PABs will be preserved, tax credit bonds and advance refundings will be eliminated starting January 1, 2018.

Attorneys from Jones Walker provide a comprehensive overview of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including the bills impact on bonds, tax credits, and other economic development tools.

The historic rehabilitation tax credit, while preserved in the final tax bill, will be modified. The tax break for fixing up historic properties will now have to be spread over five years, rather than being taken up front in the first year of a project's development.

John Hutchinson of Squire Patton Boggs provides a detailed overview of how the final tax bill will affect the municipal marketplace.

Key tax provisions will likely increase states and localities' current debt load and make it more expensive for them to borrow in the future. The bill's impact on supply and demand in the municipal bond market, however, is unclear.

With the tax bill on the verge of passing, this article highlights 5 changes tax reform will make that will have a notable effect on the LIHTC housing community.

IIUSA has found that since FY2008, a total of 66,270 EB-5 visas have been used in exchange for more than $20 billion in capital investment. Despite the fact that over 33,000 EB-5 visas remained unused in the last decade, the EB-5 Program has proven to be a powerful economic development engine.

The town of Cody, WY has voted to continue partcipating in the Wyoming Smart Capital Network, a coalition of 17 Wyoming municipalities formed take advantage of the State Small Business Credit Initiative.

More than $40 million was invested by the United States Department of Agriculture in FY2017 to help construct or improve infrastructure and boost economic growth in rural communities. More than $900,000 of which was directed to Illinois.

This report by Richard Sherman of The Seneca Group LLC provides an overview of the federal Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan program. The document reviews the purpose of and application process for the program and also provides several case studies of past projects.