Author: sriordan

Urge Congress to Include Historic Preservation Programs in Future Coronavirus Stimulus and Relief Legislation

Update: 7-01-2020

This week, the House passed the Moving Forward Act, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill. This bill includes several provisions and temporary measures to expand and enhance the Historic Tax Credit. The bill includes the following Historic Tax Credit provisions:

• A temporary increase of the Historic Tax Credit from 20% to 30% for 5 years.
• Establishes a permanent 30% Historic Tax Credit for projects $2.5 million and less
• Eliminates the HTC Basis Adjustment, bringing more value to HTCs
• Reduces the Historic Rehab Test to 50% of a building’s basis instead of 100%
• Makes the credit easier to use by non-profits
• A provision for communities to rehabilitate existing public schools using the HTC
• Temporary extension of period for completing rehabilitation

Several of these provisions were included in the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (S.2615 / H.R. 2825) and in the request that Preservation Action and our partners sent to Congress.

Take Action!

Attention now turns to the Senate. Urge your Senators to support the Historic Tax Credit provisions included in the Moving Forward Act. If you have a personal contact in your Senator’s Washington D.C or District office, contact that person directly. Encourage them to support the Historic Tax Credit provisions included in the Moving Forward Act (H.R 2) and forward them the Historic Tax Credit Economic Stimulus Request Talking Points. Also be sure to thank your Representative for their support. You can also use this easy to use tool from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

As Congress is considering future relief efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Preservation Action along with our partners are advocating to make sure the historic preservation community is part of that conversation. Preservation Action joined our partners at the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers along with more than 30 organizations and businesses in a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committee requesting $120 million for the Historic Preservation Fund.

• $30 million to support survey and digitization for State Historic Preservation Officers and $15 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.
• $75 million for Certified Local Governments to support brick and mortar projects.

We also joined for the National Trust for Historic Preservation along with more than 375 organizations and businesses in sending a preservation community letter to House and Senate leaders requesting support for preservation programs that would help to stimulate the economy. The letter calls for:

• Including the provisions of the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (S.2615 / H.R. 2825) and additional changes including a temporary increase in the value of the HTC from 20% to 30%.
• $30 million to support survey and digitization for State Historic Preservation Officers and $15 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.
• $75 million for Certified Local Governments to support brick and mortar projects.
• $300 million to support existing Historic Preservation Fund grant programs ($75 million each for Civil Rights grants, Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants, Save America’s Treasures, and HBCU Preservation program).
• Enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422).
• Additional provisions supporting charitable giving and the non-profit community
• Urging opposition to legislative exemptions for the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Protection Act.

Thank you to everyone that joined us by signing on to these letters.

Take Action! Urge your Representatives and Senators to support historic preservation programs that help to stimulate the economy as part of future coronavirus relief and recovery efforts.

If you have a personal contact in your Representative or Senator’s Washington D.C or District office, contact that person directly. Or you can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative or Senator’s DC office. Please keep in mind that most congressional staff are working remotely at this time.

Share the historic preservation assistance request letter, preservation community letter, and Historic Tax Credit Economic Economic Stimulus Request Talking Points with your members. Ask them to support historic preservation programs that help stimulate the economy as part of future coronavirus relief and recovery efforts. This includes additional funding for the Historic Preservation Fund which would support programs that help local economies, while preserving irreplaceable historic resources. And support enhancements to the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC) that would increase rehabilitation activities, create jobs, and spur economic development in local economies.

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Additional Resources

• Virtual Preservation Month Briefing: Historic Preservation’s Role in Recovery
• Historic Preservation Community Letter sent to Congressional Leaders
• Historic Preservation Assistance Request Letter sent to House and Senate Appropriations Committee
• Historic Tax Credit Economic Economic Stimulus Request Talking Points
• Historic Tax Credit Project Maps by State 2002-2019 
• Letter Template for HTC Request in Economic Recovery
• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Legislative Exemptions Letter
• Preservation Action Effective Lobbying Guide