Pascrell Leads Ways and Means Colleagues Seeking Treasury Action on Opportunity Zones
Nine committee Democrats propose ways to help improve transparency and effectiveness of scrutinized program
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, led his colleagues asking the U.S. Treasury Secretary to take action, as well as provide answers, on ways to improve and strengthen the opportunity zones program enacted into law to benefit disadvantaged communities.
On November 16, 2021, the Subcommittee held a hearing on opportunity zones and highlighted steps Treasury can take to make the program more equitable, transparent, and beneficial to the communities most in need. The members’ letter today to Secretary Janet Yellen follows up on that hearing.
“We also would like to learn what actions Treasury has taken, or plans to take, with respect to this program, consistent with views the President has expressed on the program. With just over 10% of the U.S. population living in a designated opportunity zone…it is essential that we prioritize accountability and results to the communities that this program was intended to help,” the members write Treasury.
The opportunity zones program was created as part of the GOP tax scam law of 2017 to “spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities” throughout the United States. But the program has come under fire…
