Supporting Investment in Communities: The First 25 Years of the New Markets Tax Credit

At the 2025 Fall New Markets Tax Credit Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana

在 2025 年秋季新市场税收抵免会议上，路易斯安那州新奥尔良

Thank you for asking me to be part of this celebration of 25 years of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) and also the historic achievement of its permanent extension.

感谢您邀请我参加这次庆祝新市场税收抵免 (NMTC) 25 周年及其永久延期的历史性成就的活动。

1 I consider the credit a great achievement for communities all across the United States.

1 我认为这项荣誉对于美国各地的社区来说是一项伟大的成就。

I'm honored to be here with you celebrating its legacy of bringing jobs and opportunity to lower-income communities—a lasting impact that benefits all Americans.

我很荣幸能与大家一起庆祝该公司为低收入社区带来就业和机会的传统——这种持久影响使所有美国人受益。

Before I talk about the NMTC itself, let's go back and remember some history of how it came about.

在谈论 NMTC 本身之前，让我们回顾一下它的诞生历史。

In the 1990s, there was a lot of partisan conflict about federal anti-poverty programs.

20 世纪 90 年代，关于联邦反贫困计划存在很多党派冲突。

President Clinton believed there should be some common ground on some ways to fight poverty, and the New Markets Initiative was one of them.

克林顿总统认为，在一些消除贫困的方法上应该有一些共同点，新市场倡议就是其中之一。

At the time, America was trying to create jobs by opening up markets abroad for U.S. exporters, and what became the NMTC was dedicated to the idea that there were also promising new markets to invest in right here at home, in underinvested communities.

当时，美国正试图通过向美国出口商开放海外市场来创造就业机会，而后来的 NMTC 则致力于这样一种理念：在国内投资不足的社区也存在有前景的新市场可供投资。

I still remember fondly one trip I took with the President to highlight the possibilities for investment in underserved communities.

我仍然清楚地记得我与总统一起进行的一次旅行，以强调对服务不足的社区进行投资的可能性。

At one stop in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in a sweltering furniture factory we heard from entrepreneurs looking for new capital, from community development financial institutions looking for new sources of capital to help entrepreneurs, and from community lenders looking to grow their local economy.

在密西西比州克拉克斯代尔的一站，在一家闷热的家具工厂里，我们听到企业家寻求新资本，社区发展金融机构寻求新的资本来源来帮助企业家，以及社区贷款机构寻求发展当地经济。

Their enthusiasm was infectious.

他们的热情很有感染力。

One reason the NMTC has succeeded is that, from the beginning, it had very broad support.

NMTC 成功的原因之一是它从一开始就得到了非常广泛的支持。

Lower-income communities in both rural and urban areas had the vision to support economic development but lacked the investment.

农村和城市地区的低收入社区都有支持经济发展的愿景，但缺乏投资。

The comprehensive geographical reach helped the NMTC to have broad bipartisan support.

广泛的地理覆盖范围帮助 NMTC 获得了两党的广泛支持。

Republicans and Democrats both supported using the tax code to create economic incentives, especially those that incentivize investment intended to create jobs.

共和党和民主党都支持利用税法来创造经济激励措施，特别是那些刺激旨在创造就业机会的投资的激励措施。

When the bill passed, a Republican lawmaker who voted for it called the NMTC "the most effective anti-poverty package coming out the federal government…in a generation." 2 That person was then Representative Jim Talent, who is with us today.

该法案通过后，一位投票支持该法案的共和党议员称 NMTC 为“联邦政府……一代人以来最有效的反贫困方案”。 2 那个人是当时的众议员吉姆·塔伦特（Jim Talent），他今天也和我们在一起。

While the NMTC quickly proved effective at attracting investment to communities, its biggest challenge was being created as a temporary program—requiring a major effort every few years to secure reauthorization.

虽然 NMTC 很快被证明在吸引社区投资方面是有效的，但其最大的挑战是作为一个临时计划而创建——需要每隔几年做出重大努力才能获得重新授权。

But now, the NMTC has been permanently enacted.

但现在，NMTC 已经永久颁布。

I believe that will usher in a new era of stability for the NMTC and thus growth for investments in low-income communities.

我相信，这将为 NMTC 带来一个稳定的新时代，从而促进低收入社区投资的增长。

A second reason for the NMTC's support, I believe, was its design as a public–private partnership.

我认为，NMTC 支持的第二个原因是其公私合作伙伴关系的设计。

Communities are more than the sum of their different parts.

社区不仅仅是各个部分的总和。

They are the product of all these parts working together, and the key to successful community development is designing programs that involve and mobilize every part of a community.

它们是所有这些部分共同努力的产物，社区发展成功的关键是设计吸引和动员社区各个部分的计划。

In my experience, the backbone of many successful community development initiatives is the combination of government, groups representing the people of the community, and the businesses that provide most of the jobs and livelihoods in any community.

根据我的经验，许多成功的社区发展举措的支柱是政府、代表社区人民的团体以及为任何社区提供大部分就业和生计的企业的结合。

When everyone has a stake in the outcome, that is when good things start happening.

当每个人都对结果有利害关系时，那就是好事开始发生的时候。

The NMTC is such a public–private partnership.

NMTC 就是这样一个公私合作伙伴关系。

It starts from the ground up—local community development groups and business leaders with a history of commitment to the community are the spur.

它从头开始——当地社区发展团体和具有对社区承诺历史的商业领袖是鞭策。

To work effectively in so many different places with such a broad range of conditions and needs, it has to be a program that really works.

为了在如此多的不同地方、具有如此广泛的条件和需求的情况下有效地工作，它必须是一个真正有效的计划。

The NMTC succeeds because it is premised on the conviction that there are real investment opportunities in lower-income communities.

NMTC 之所以成功，是因为它坚信低收入社区存在真正的投资机会。

The belief that there are smart, hard-working, and capable people eager to support a new or expanded enterprise.

相信有聪明、勤奋、有能力的人渴望支持新的或扩大的企业。

That there is affordable real estate, in some cases commercial or industrial buildings, and extensive infrastructure that have been underutilized.

有负担得起的房地产，在某些情况下是商业或工业建筑，以及尚未充分利用的广泛基础设施。

The conviction that there are communities that will unite to support new businesses as markets themselves for the goods and services these businesses provide.

相信有些社区将团结起来支持新企业，因为它们本身就是这些企业提供的商品和服务的市场。

The 39 percent tax incentive at the heart of the NMTC, paid out over seven years, plays a critical role in attracting investors to these advantages.

NMTC 的核心是 39% 的税收优惠，历时七年支付，在吸引投资者享受这些优势方面发挥着关键作用。

It's often the critical factor that makes those investments work.

这通常是使这些投资发挥作用的关键因素。

The NMTC is the foot in the door for communities trying to get the attention of investors who can start or expand their businesses anywhere.

NMTC 是社区试图吸引可以在任何地方创办或扩展业务的投资者注意的门槛。

It is the extra incentive that is needed for investors to look under the hood and recognize all the good reasons why a particular community would be a great place to do business.

投资者需要额外的激励来深入了解并认识到特定社区成为开展业务的好地方的所有充分理由。

The NMTC unlocks the undercounted, underappreciated potential of so many communities.

NMTC 释放了许多社区被低估、未被充分认识的潜力。

That's good for investors, good for communities, and good for the U.S. economy.

这对投资者、社区和美国经济都有好处。

And let me say also—it is just good.

我还要说——这很好。

Good for an America that believes in opportunity and everyone living up to their potential.

这对于相信机会、相信每个人都能发挥潜力的美国来说是件好事。

I like to think about what each of those businesses means to the community to which it was brought by the NMTC.

我喜欢思考这些业务对于 NMTC 所带来的社区意味着什么。

Anyone who has done the hard work of economic development in lower-income communities knows that getting such an investment is a huge achievement.

任何为低收入社区经济发展做出过艰苦努力的人都知道，获得这样的投资是一项巨大的成就。

It makes communities stand out and says to others that maybe this would be a good place for more investment.

它使社区脱颖而出，并向其他人表明，也许这将是一个进行更多投资的好地方。

I also like to think about what one of those million jobs the NMTC helped to create can mean to the individual who gets it and to their family.

我还喜欢思考 NMTC 帮助创造的数百万个就业机会中的一个对获得该就业机会的个人及其家庭意味着什么。

Maybe learning a new skill, an entirely new occupation, or even getting a second chance to use skills they already have that perhaps haven't been demanded lately in the community.

也许学习一项新技能、一项全新的职业，甚至获得第二次机会使用他们已经拥有的技能，而这些技能可能是社区最近不需要的。

Such an opportunity can be life changing.

这样的机会可能会改变生活。

One person whose life was changed by the NMTC and our broader work on community development at the Treasury Department was me.

我的生活因 NMTC 和我们在财政部更广泛的社区发展工作而改变。

I didn't know exactly what I was going to do when I went to work for Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin in 1995.

1995 年，当我为财政部长鲍勃·鲁宾 (Bob Rubin) 工作时，我并不确切地知道自己要做什么。

But they needed someone to help the Treasury empower local communities, and I was thrilled to say yes.

但他们需要有人帮助财政部赋予当地社区权力，我很高兴答应了。

And my work over the next six years really did change my life.

接下来六年的工作确实改变了我的生活。

In every job I have ever had since, inside and outside government, community development has played a significant role.

从那时起，在我从事的每一项工作中，无论是政府内部还是外部，社区发展都发挥了重要作用。

As a professor and dean at the University of Michigan, I wrote about community development and consumer protection and helped launch an initiative to help entrepreneurs in Detroit.

作为密歇根大学的教授和院长，我撰写了有关社区发展和消费者保护的文章，并帮助发起了一项旨在帮助底特律企业家的倡议。

When I returned to Washington to help deal with the effects of the Great Financial Crisis, I never forgot, for a moment, how the greatest harm from that catastrophe was inflicted on lower-income families and their communities.

当我回到华盛顿帮助应对金融危机的影响时，我一刻也没有忘记这场灾难对低收入家庭及其社区造成的最大伤害。

When Congress was writing the Dodd-Frank Act, I pushed hard to ensure it would create new protections for lower- and middle-income borrowers, and I wrote a book about the tenuous finances of lower-income people with no financial slack trying to make their way in the economy.

当国会起草《多德弗兰克法案》时，我努力确保该法案能为中低收入借款人提供新的保护，我还写了一本关于低收入人群脆弱的财务状况的书，他们没有金融闲置，试图在经济中取得进展。

The Federal Reserve System, which includes our 12 regional Reserve Banks, has a community development mission, and I recently took over responsibility for that function on behalf of the Fed's Board of Governors.

包括我们 12 家地区储备银行在内的美联储系统肩负着社区发展的使命，我最近代表美联储理事会接手了这一职能。

The Fed's responsibilities in promoting a healthy economy and strong and stable financial system require that we monitor conditions throughout the United States, and that includes in low-income communities.

美联储在促进健康的经济和强大而稳定的金融体系方面的责任要求我们监控美国各地的状况，其中包括低收入社区。

It has given me the opportunity to connect with community leaders and community development groups all across the country, hear about their challenges, and also their hopes and plans for the future.

它让我有机会与全国各地的社区领袖和社区发展团体建立联系，了解他们面临的挑战以及他们对未来的希望和计划。

This work has reminded me again that America really is its communities and that community development is essential to a thriving and prosperous America.

这项工作再次提醒我，美国实际上就是它的社区，社区发展对于美国的繁荣和繁荣至关重要。

Those are goals that the New Markets Tax Credit has helped advance for a quarter-century, and I am very pleased that this conference can mark the beginning of another 25 years of the NMTC bringing new investment and new opportunity to communities.

这些是新市场税收抵免在四分之一个世纪中帮助推进的目标，我很高兴这次会议能够标志着 NMTC 另一个 25 年的开始，为社区带来新的投资和新的机会。

1.

1.

The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee.

这里表达的观点是我自己的观点，不一定是我在美联储委员会或联邦公开市场委员会的同事的观点。

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2.

2.

T.

T。

Draut, D.

德劳特，D.

Callahan, D.

卡拉汉，D.

and C.

和C。

Hawkes, Crossing Divides: New Common Ground on Poverty and Economic Security (PDF) (New York: Demos, 2002), 34.

霍克斯，《跨越鸿沟：贫困和经济安全的新共同点》(PDF)（纽约：Demos，2002 年），34。

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