As Congress debates the future of the federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC),  lawmakers at the State Capitol are working to restore the effectiveness of Wisconsin’s Historic Tax Credit program – and the significant impact it has on local economic development across the state.

Legislation was recently circulated for co-sponsorship that would increase the current per project cap on HTC awards from $500,000 to $3.5 million. The legislation is vital to restoring one of the state’s most valuable economic development tools that has helped revitalize communities in every corner of Wisconsin.

Please contact your legislators TODAY and urge them to co-sponsor the Historic Tax Credit Restoration Act (LRB-4780). The deadline for lawmakers to co-sponsor the bill is this Friday, Dec. 8.

Background:

In his 2017-19 state budget proposal, Gov. Scott Walker proposed capping the HTC program at $10 million per year. State lawmakers disagreed with that direction and instead passed a state budget in September that eliminated the proposed overall cap. However, in an effort to help balance the budget, the Legislature did limit HTC awards to $5 million per project. Unfortunately, the governor used his veto pen to reduce the HTC per project cap to $500,000. LRB-4780 would increase the per project cap to $3.5 million.

Remember, the amount of legislators that co-sponsor a bill can increase its chances to pass the full Legislature and be signed into law by the governor. WEDA needs your help to encourage legislators to co-sponsor the bill.

How you Can Help:

Please call or e-mail your state legislators TODAY and urge them to co-sponsor LRB-4780. Please feel free to use WEDA’s sample e-mail and talking points (both linked below) when contacting your lawmakers.

If you don’t know who your state legislators are, or do not have their contact information, simply click here and type your home address in the upper right corner text box. Remember to contact both your senator and representative in the Assembly.

Remember, legislators want to hear from their constituents. More importantly, as an economic development professional, your input on this issue will hold considerable sway with lawmakers. In short, you can make a difference. Simply pick up the phone or take a few minutes to send an e-mail to your legislators.

HTC Resources:

If you have any questions on the HTC Call to Action request or would like additional information on the proposed legislation, please contact the WEDA office at mwelsh@weda.org.