Opinion: Congress Should Expand the Opportunity Zone Program

In an opinion piece for Governing, Steven G. Glickman and Jonathan Tower argue for the expansion of the federal Opportunity Zone program created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Opportunity Zones, the authors explain, “were originally designed as an experiment to incentivize new streams of private capital investment in distressed areas, pushing overly bureaucratic decision-making from the federal government down to more nimble states, cities and individual investors in exchange for long-term investments that generate new economic activity and housing.”

Since then, Opportunity Zones were created in over 8,700 communities across the U.S., attracting more than $100 billion in private investment by 2022, all geared toward revitalizing underserved communities. The authors note that “To get it right, you have to have the right mix of community leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and developers with a shared long-term vision of the future.”

The authors support extending and expanding the program to make more communities eligible, asserting that the program could grow to become the first billion-dollar economic development initiative. “If we are really serious about the success of Opportunity Zones, Congress should include them as a permanent part of the tax code, providing the private sector with the clarity and confidence needed to achieve the true scale of impact that’s possible.”