3.0.0 1551 2023-01-11T13:37:07Z 2023-01-11T13:37:07Z Senate S 2017-07-13 115 ssfi00 Finance Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2017-07-13T17:47:00Z 2017-07-13 ssfi00 Finance Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. IntroReferral 2017-07-13 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress P000603 Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY] Rand Paul R KY N M000355 Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY] Mitch McConnell R KY 2017-07-13 True Economics and Public Finance Administrative law and regulatory procedures Air quality Bankruptcy Building construction Business investment and capital Capital gains tax Charitable contributions Corporate finance and management Credit and credit markets Economic development Economic performance and conditions Education programs funding Elementary and secondary education Employee benefits and pensions Employment taxes Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Environmental regulatory procedures Foreign labor Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management Government lending and loan guarantees Government trust funds Income tax credits Income tax deductions Income tax exclusion Income tax rates Labor standards Labor-management relations Licensing and registrations Poverty and welfare assistance Public contracts and procurement Residential rehabilitation and home repair Roads and highways Securities Self-employed Social security and elderly assistance Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations State and local finance State and local taxation Student aid and college costs Tax reform and tax simplification Transportation programs funding Unemployment Visas and passports Wages and earnings Water quality Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats Economics and Public Finance 00 2017-07-13 Introduced in Senate 2017-12-29T18:35:39Z Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2017

This bill prohibits the federal government from providing: (1) assistance (e.g., loans, loan guarantees, or purchases) to a municipality or zip code, other than the assistance provided for in this bill for an area designated as an Economic Freedom Zone; and (2) financial assistance to a bankrupt or insolvent municipality, except as provided by this bill.

The bill sets forth requirements for designating municipalities, counties, cities, and zip codes as zones for a 10-year period, including bankruptcy eligibility, risk of insolvency, pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow reduced tax rates, tax credits, tax-exempt educational savings accounts, increased expensing of business property, and other tax incentives for individuals and businesses located in or investing in a zone.

The zones are exempt from compliance with: (1) specified environmental regulations, (2) the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, (3) requirements applicable to a National Heritage Area, and (4) wage rate requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act.

The bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow a special allocation of grant funds for children from families who reside in a zone and have incomes below the federal poverty level.

The Department of Homeland Security may issue special visas to aliens meeting certain capital, educational, and skill requirements who intend to enter the United States to invest in a zone.

]]> Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2017 Display Title Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2017 Official Title as Introduced A bill to provide for the establishment of free market enterprise zones in order to help facilitate the creation of new jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, enhanced and renewed educational opportunities, and increased community involvement in bankrupt or economically distressed areas. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2017 Introduced in Senate 2017-07-13T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-115s1551is/xml/BILLS-115s1551is.xml 2017-07-13 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.