The Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced a second round of winners under the Obama administration’s Promise Zones initiative. Eight new Promise Zones were added to the five that were announced in January, 2014.
The new Promise Zones were chosen from among 123 applications. A third competition will be announced later this year.
According to HUD:
Promise Zones will not receive grant funding, but will benefit from technical assistance, coordinated federal staff support, and preferential access to certain existing federal funding streams. Promise Zone designations will have a term of ten years and may be extended as necessary to capture the full term of availability of the Promise Zone tax incentives if enacted by Congress. All federal resources are subject to statutory requirements and appropriations and therefore will change throughout the Promise Zone designation period.
The Obama administration has been publishing a steady stream of grant opportunities for the current Promise Zones. It is unclear whether Congress will approve the administration’s proposed tax incentives outside of a comprehensive tax reform package, which itself seems unlikely during the remaining two years of President Obama’s term in office.
Related
- The White House, Accelerating Economic Mobility Through Promise Zone Partnerships (April 28, 2015)
- Promise Zone Tax Breaks May Not ‘Hold Water’ With Ryan (April 16, 2015)
- HUD, HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative Launches New Resource Library (March 19, 2015)
- Promise Zones: Round Two (September 20, 2014)