D.C. as an Empowerment Zone
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill that would add the city to the national empowerment zone program to provide federal tax incentives for businesses to locate and invest in low-income areas of the city.
The bill would effectively restore many of the federal tax incentives for investment in low-income District neighborhoods that a Norton bill created in 1997, but Congress let expire in 2011.
In her introductory statement, Norton said: “D.C.’s downtown, which has been the economic engine of the city, has been particularly hard hit by the increase in remote and hybrid work since the COVID-19 pandemic, making this bill especially important.”
“Congress has recognized that the benefits of tax incentives for investment in economically distressed communities outweigh the costs, as it has continuously extended the national empowerment program,” she continued. The tax incentives for D.C. were effective and their costs were de minimis.”
