Preservation Action

COVID-19 Relief Legislation Stalled- Keep Up Your Advocacy Efforts to Include HTC Provisions

As you have probably seen in the news, congressional leaders and the White House failed to reach an agreement on the next round of COVID-19 relief and recovery legislation before departing for the August recess. The Senate released a more narrowly focused proposal in July, which centered around liability protection, adequately funding healthcare needs, and safely reopening schools. The two sides remain far apart on top line spending numbers, but both have priorities they want accomplished and face continued political forces which should keep pressure on them to return to the negotiating table. The timeline for action remains uncertain. Congress is slated to be on recess until after the Labor Day weekend, but they could be called back sooner. Preservation Action will continue to monitor the negotiations taking place and keep you posted in the latest developments. While the talks are currently stalled, it’s critical we keep up our efforts.

Join us in continuing to urge your Senators to incorporate the HTC provisions in the next round of COVID-19 relief and recovery legislation. We’re asking Senators to include the HTC changes called for in the House passed infrastructure package, the Moving Forward Act (H.R 2).  This includes enhancements from the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act to strengthen the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) and temporary provisions aimed specifically at addressing the challenges that rehabilitation projects are facing during the pandemic. Additionally, these changes will aid economic recovery, benefiting struggling communities across the country. Specifically, we’re urging Congress to incorporate the following HTC 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

We need your help! Continue to reach out to your Senators and urge them to include these much-needed Historic Tax Credit provisions in the next COVID-19 relief and recovery bill.

How to Take Action:

Preservation Action has made it easy for you take action. Use our new action campaign to easily edit and send a letter to your Senator’s office today! If you have a personal contact in your Senators office, reach out to them directly. You can also share our Action Alert with your networks and on social media. Also be sure to share any responses you receive with Preservation Action at mail@preservationaction.org to help inform our advocacy efforts.

Site Visits

Members of Congress are currently back home during the August recess, this is a great time to invite your members to safely tour a Historic Tax Credit project in their state/district. They can see first hand the impact the HTC has on their communities, the challenges many of these rehabilitation projects are facing due to the pandemic, and how the proposed changes to the HTC will help to stimulate the local economy. We hear time and again from congressional staff about the importance of congressional site visits to show the tangible impact of programs like the Historic Tax Credit.

Check out our In-District Lobbying Guide or the Arranging a Congressional Site Visit guide from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to learn more about scheduling a site visit. If you need any assistance, feel free to contact us mail@preservationaction.org.

Additional Resources

Historic Tax Credit Economic Stimulus Talking Points
Historic Tax Credit Project Maps by State 2002-2019
Virtual Preservation Month Briefing: Historic Preservation’s Role in Recover

Thanks Your Members for Supporting the Great American Outdoors Act

The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422, H.R 7092) with strong, bipartisan support and this week the President signed it into law. This important bill will fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million annually and provide dedicated funding to address the deferred maintenance backlog at the National Park Service and on other public lands. Thank you for reaching out to your members of Congress in support of this important bill!

The Great American Outdoors Act not only supports continued public access and enjoyment of our nation’s public lands, but also helps support and protect cultural and historic sites across the country. The LWCF has been used to preserve battlefields like Gettysburg National Military Park and iconic sites like the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. The bill also addresses the nearly $12 billion backlog at the National Park Service, an estimated 43% is attributed to historic resources.  Preservation Action included this important bill in  our request to Congress to support historic preservation priorities in future stimulus legislation.

Thank Your Members of Congress

Preservation Action made it easy for you to take action. Send a letter directly to your members of Congress thanking them supporting the Great American Outdoors Act today!