Weekly Column: Investing In Idaho Through The New Markets Tax Credit

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program is a market-based tool to incentivize investment in communities across the country. These incentives are important in a place like Idaho, which is one of the fastest growing states, full of opportunity and potential. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I worked to secure a permanent expansion of the New Markets Tax Credit in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, providing more long-term investment possibilities to help spur economic development into low-income and rural communities that are often overlooked.

Congress created the NMTC in 2000 to spur investment, job creation and economic growth in emerging areas. It had been extended multiple times, but, most recently, it was set to expire at the end of 2025 before it was permanently expanded in the OBBB.

In our very first meeting more than a year ago to develop the best strategy for avoiding the 2025 tax cliff, Senate Finance Committee Republicans all agreed that permanence in our tax code was our top priority. Permanence and certainty in the tax code is critical for long-term investment, especially for tools like the NMTC. The NMTC drives private investment and economic growth into areas that lack access to the kinds of long-term capital needed to support and grow businesses, create jobs and sustain healthy local economies.

Over the past 20 years, the New Markets Tax Credit program has resulted in $470 million in private capital flowing to 46 businesses and projects in Idaho. That includes a manufacturing facility in Rupert, a health center in Mountain Home and the rehabilitation of a historic building in downtown Boise.

The New Markets Tax Credit Coalition conducted analysis projecting the 10-year impact of making these tax credits permanent. The results showed that over ten years, at the national level, the program would:

• Deliver $100 billion in capital to underserved regions;
• Provide local support to more than 4,000 businesses and projects;
• Generate nearly 70,000 rural manufacturing jobs;
• Expand health care choice through more than 700 new or improved facilities;
• Prepare the workers of tomorrow through nearly $9 billion in investments for training and education;
• Deliver 435,000 permanent full-time American jobs; and
• Increase the housing supply through more than 17,000 affordable homes, including 6,700 owner-occupied.

The NMTC is just one of many provisions in the OBBB that will help spur economic development into low-income and rural communities often overlooked. Other provisions like Opportunity Zones and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit are also powerful vehicles for supporting business investment and housing development.

The longevity of these development incentives in the OBBB will serve as an important part of the foundation to build on as work continues to fuel economic development in Idaho to keep pace with our growing communities.

# # #