Shenango Valley News

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA -- On Monday, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Chairman of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Tax, led a historic field hearing at the Warner Theatre in Erie, Pennsylvania to highlight the impact of Opportunity Zone legislation in the City of Erie. The hearing was part of a year-long effort by Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) to gather feedback from Americans on how the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) has affected them before its provisions expire in 2025.

"Erie, Pennsylvania is a shining example of just how beneficial and transformational Opportunity Zones can be. Opportunity Zones were designed to provide tax incentives that encourage long-term private capital investment to revitalize low-income areas. This program was able to facilitate the type of investments that would best serve the community’s needs. With the new Opportunity Zone legislation in TCJA, investors turned to Erie," Rep. Kelly said. "But our work on Opportunity Zones is not yet finished. With several bills in the works to both expand and enhance Opportunity Zones, I look forward to working on these bills and other opportunity zone legislation as we head into 2025."

Ways & Means Members who attended the hearing included Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA), Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), Reps. Carol Miller (R-WV), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), and Ron Estes (R-KS).

Over the last six years in downtown Erie, the Erie Downtown Development Corporation and community stakeholders have welcomed 110 new residential spaces, created space for 25 new businesses, restored eight historic properties, revitalized 100,000 square feet of new commercial space, established a grocery store in what was previously designated a 'food desert,' and leveraged $40 million in private capital into a $115 million investment throughout the downtown Erie Opportunity Zone.

The City of Erie was once home to one of the poorest ZIP codes in the United States. Now, in this ZIP code, 16501, Opportunity Zones have generated more than $400 million of long-term capital investment aimed at revitalizing downtown Erie.

According to a 2023 Economic Innovation Group report, more than $48 billion have been invested in 7,800 Qualified Opportunity Funds nationwide.

As Congress considers the future of Opportunity Zones and the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, Rep. Kelly is leading efforts to expand and enhance Opportunity Zones. In September 2023, Kelly introduced the Opportunity Zones Transparency, Extension, and Improvement Act with Reps. Dan Kildee (D-MI), Carol Miller (R-WV), and Terri Sewell (D-AL). The legislation would require mandatory data reporting of Opportunity Zone investments to increase transparency and streamline reporting processes while extending investment deferral windows for high-impact projects in low-income communities.