II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4915 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the low-income 

housing credit and to reauthorize and reform the Generalized System 

of Preferences, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2024 

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify 

the low-income housing credit and to reauthorize and 

reform the Generalized System of Preferences, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—AFFORDABLE HOUSING 

Sec. 101. State housing credit ceiling increase for low-income housing credit. 

Sec. 102. Tax-exempt bond financing requirement. 

TITLE II—REAUTHORIZATION AND REFORM OF GENERALIZED 

SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES 


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Sec. 201. Modification of eligibility criteria for beneficiary developing countries. 

Sec. 202. Supplemental reviews and reporting. 

Sec. 203. Extension of Generalized System of Preferences. 

1 TITLE I—AFFORDABLE HOUSING 

2 SEC. 101. STATE HOUSING CREDIT CEILING INCREASE FOR 

3 LOW-INCOME HOUSING CREDIT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 42(h)(3)(I) of the Inter5 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and 2021,’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025,’’, and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘2018, 2019, 2020, AND 2021’’ in 

9 the heading and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN CALENDAR

10 YEARS’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to calendar years after 2022. 

13 SEC. 102. TAX-EXEMPT BOND FINANCING REQUIREMENT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 42(h)(4) of the Internal 

15 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subpara16 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE WHERE MINIMUM

18 PERCENT OF BUILDINGS IS FINANCED WITH

19 TAX-EXEMPT BONDS SUBJECT TO VOLUME

20 CAP.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), para21 graph (1) shall not apply to any portion of the 

22 credit allowable under subsection (a) with re23 spect to a building if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) 50 percent or more of the aggre2 gate basis of such building and the land on 

3 which the building is located is financed by 

4 1 or more obligations described in subpara5 graph (A), or 

6 ‘‘(ii)(I) 30 percent or more of the ag7 gregate basis of such building and the land 

8 on which the building is located is financed 

9 by 1 or more qualified obligations, and 

10 ‘‘(II) 1 or more of such qualified obli11 gations— 

12 ‘‘(aa) are part of an issue the 

13 issue date of which is after December 

14 31, 2023, and 

15 ‘‘(bb) provide the financing for 

16 not less than 5 percent of the aggre17 gate basis of such building and the 

18 land on which the building is located. 

19 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED OBLIGATION.—For pur20 poses of subparagraph (B)(ii), the term ‘quali21 fied obligation’ means an obligation which is de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) and which is part 

23 of an issue the issue date of which is before 

24 January 1, 2026.’’. 

25 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to buildings placed in service 

3 in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023. 

4 (2) REHABILITATION EXPENDITURES TREATED

5 AS SEPARATE NEW BUILDING.—In the case of any 

6 building with respect to which any expenditures are 

7 treated as a separate new building under section 

8 42(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for 

9 purposes of paragraph (1), both the existing building 

10 and the separate new building shall be treated as 

11 having been placed in service on the date such ex12 penditures are treated as placed in service under 

13 section 42(e)(4) of such Code. 

14 TITLE II—REAUTHORIZATION 

15 AND REFORM OF GENERAL16 IZED SYSTEM OF PREF17 ERENCES 

18 SEC. 201. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR 

19 BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 502 of the Trade Act of 

21 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

23 (A) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) Such country has failed, in a manner 

2 affecting trade or investment— 

3 ‘‘(i) to effectively enforce its environ4 mental laws or regulations through a sus5 tained or recurring course of action or in6 action; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) to adopt and maintain measures 

8 implementing its obligations under com9 mon multilateral environmental agree10 ments. 

11 ‘‘(J) Such country engages in gross viola12 tions of internationally recognized human rights 

13 in that country (including any designated zone 

14 in that country).’’; and 

15 (B) in the text following subparagraph (J) 

16 (as inserted by subparagraph (A)), by striking 

17 ‘‘and (H) (to the extent described in section 

18 507(6)(D))’’ and inserting ‘‘(H) (to the extent 

19 described in section 507(6)(D)), (I), and (J)’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘; 

23 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

24 (B) in paragraph (7)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘whether’’ and all that 

2 follows through ‘‘afford’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘the extent to which such country is af4 fording’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

6 and inserting a semicolon; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(8) the extent to which such country is effec9 tively enforcing its environmental laws and regula10 tions and adopting and maintaining measures imple11 menting its obligations under common multilateral 

12 environmental agreements; 

13 ‘‘(9) the extent to which such country is achiev14 ing the goals described in section 3(b) of the Wom15 en’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment 

16 Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 2151–2(b)); 

17 ‘‘(10) the extent to which such country has es18 tablished, or is making continual progress toward es19 tablishing— 

20 ‘‘(A) the rule of law, political pluralism, 

21 and the right to due process, a fair trial, and 

22 equal protection under the law; 

23 ‘‘(B) economic policies to reduce poverty, 

24 increase the availability of health care and edu25 cational opportunities, expand physical infraVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4915.IS S4915

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1 structure, promote the development of private 

2 enterprise, and encourage the formation of cap3 ital markets through micro-credit or other pro4 grams; and 

5 ‘‘(C) a system to combat corruption and 

6 bribery, such as signing and implementing the 

7 Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign 

8 Public Officials in International Business 

9 Transactions, done at Paris December 17, 

10 1997, and entered into force February 15, 1999 

11 (TIAS 99–215); and 

12 ‘‘(11) the extent to which such country— 

13 ‘‘(A) has refrained from imposing, or has 

14 eliminated, digital trade barriers, including un15 necessary or discriminatory data localization or 

16 data transfer restrictions; and 

17 ‘‘(B) has taken steps in the digital environ18 ment to support consumer protections, the pri19 vacy of personal information, and open digital 

20 ecosystems.’’. 

21 (b) MODIFICATION OF WITHDRAWAL, SUSPENSION, 

22 OR LIMITATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 502 of the 

23 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (d)(1), in the second sen25 tence— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘shall consider’’ and insert2 ing the following: ‘‘shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) consider’’; 

4 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

5 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) hold a public hearing or provide for 

8 a period of not less than 30 days for submission 

9 of comments by the public.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (f)(2)— 

11 (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 

12 ‘‘OR SUSPENSION’’ after ‘‘TERMINATION’’; 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘or suspend’’ after ‘‘ter14 minate’’ each place it appears; and 

15 (C) by inserting ‘‘or suspension’’ after 

16 ‘‘termination’’. 

17 (c) PUBLICATION OF DETERMINATIONS RELATING

18 TO PETITIONS FOR REVIEW.—Section 502 of the Trade 

19 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462) is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(g) PUBLICATION OF DETERMINATIONS RELATING

22 TO PETITIONS FOR REVIEW.—The United States Trade 

23 Representative shall publish in the Federal Register a no24 tice of, and the rationale for, any determination of the 

25 Trade Representative with respect to a petition for review 


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1 of the eligibility of a country for designation as a bene2 ficiary developing country, including a determination— 

3 ‘‘(1) to accept or deny such a petition; 

4 ‘‘(2) to continue to review the eligibility of the 

5 country; or 

6 ‘‘(3) to withdraw, suspend, or limit the applica7 tion of duty-free treatment under this title with re8 spect to the country.’’. 

9 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 507 of the Trade Act of 

10 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (4)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘; 

13 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

15 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(F) the elimination of all forms of dis18 crimination with respect to occupation and em19 ployment.’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(7) COMMON MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL

22 AGREEMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘common 

24 multilateral environmental agreement’, for pur25 poses of determining the eligibility of a country 


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1 for designation as a beneficiary developing 

2 country under this title, means any agreement 

3 specified in subparagraph (B) to which both the 

4 United States and that country are full parties, 

5 including any current or future mutually agreed 

6 upon protocols, amendments, annexes, or ad7 justments to such an agreement. 

8 ‘‘(B) AGREEMENTS SPECIFIED.—The 

9 agreements specified in this subparagraph are 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) The Convention on International 

12 Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 

13 Fauna and Flora, done at Washington 

14 March 3, 1973 (27 UST 1087; TIAS 

15 8249). 

16 ‘‘(ii) The Montreal Protocol on Sub17 stances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, 

18 done at Montreal September 16, 1987. 

19 ‘‘(iii) The Protocol of 1978 Relating 

20 to the International Convention for the 

21 Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, 

22 done at London February 17, 1978. 

23 ‘‘(iv) The Convention on Wetlands of 

24 International Importance, Especially as 


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1 Waterfowl Habitat, done at Ramsar Feb2 ruary 2, 1971 (TIAS 11084). 

3 ‘‘(v) The Convention on the Conserva4 tion of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, 

5 done at Canberra May 20, 1980 (33 UST 

6 3476). 

7 ‘‘(vi) The International Convention for 

8 the Regulation of Whaling, done at Wash9 ington December 2, 1946 (62 Stat. 1716). 

10 ‘‘(vii) The Convention for the Estab11 lishment of an Inter-American Tropical 

12 Tuna Commission, done at Washington 

13 May 31, 1949 (1 UST 230).’’. 

14 SEC. 202. SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEWS AND REPORTING. 

15 (a) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT ON COMPLIANCE

16 WITH ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 502 of the 

17 Trade Act of 1974, as amended by section 201, is further 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(h) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT ON COMPLIANCE

20 WITH ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) on an annual basis— 

23 ‘‘(i) conduct assessments of the com24 pliance of an appropriate number of coun25 tries designated as beneficiary developing 


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1 countries for purposes of this title in meet2 ing or continuing to meet the eligibility re3 quirements under this title; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) make determinations with re5 spect to whether to initiate full reviews of 

6 the practices of those countries to assess 

7 the continued eligibility of those countries 

8 for designation as beneficiary developing 

9 countries under this title; and 

10 ‘‘(B) submit to Congress a report con11 sisting of the results of such assessments and 

12 determinations. 

13 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—The President shall con14 duct an assessment described in clause (i) of para15 graph (1)(A) and make a determination described in 

16 clause (ii) of that paragraph with respect to each 

17 country designated as a beneficiary developing coun18 try for purposes of this title not less frequently than 

19 once every 3 years.’’. 

20 (b) ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF GENERAL21 IZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES IN STRENGTHENING AND

22 MAINTAINING INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED WORKER

23 RIGHTS AND WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECO24 NOMIC EMPOWERMENT.— 


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1 (1) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the 

2 policy of the United States to support gender equal3 ity and worker rights by promoting legal reforms 

4 that address legal, structural, and social barriers 

5 that constrain the full and free economic participa6 tion of all workers in the global economy. 

7 (2) AMENDMENT TO TRADE ACT OF 1974.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Trade 

9 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) is amend10 ed by inserting after section 504 the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 504A. ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS IN 

12 STRENGTHENING AND MAINTAINING INTER13 NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED WORKER RIGHTS 

14 AND WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND 

15 ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 months after 

17 the date of the enactment of this section, and every 2 

18 years thereafter, the United States Trade Representative 

19 and the Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International 

20 Affairs, in consultation with the policy advisory committee 

21 on labor established under section 135(c)(1), shall jointly 

22 submit to Congress an assessment of the effectiveness of 

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1 ing to the factors described in paragraphs (7) and (9) of 

2 section 502(c). 

3 ‘‘(b) METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES.—The assess4 ment required by subsection (a) shall include— 

5 ‘‘(1) an explanation of the methodology and 

6 sources used to prepare the assessment; and 

7 ‘‘(2) where relevant, citations to data, informa8 tion, studies, and assessments that were used to pre9 pare the assessment and were gathered, compiled, or 

10 developed by the United States Government, foreign 

11 governments, multilateral institutions, nongovern12 mental organizations, or educational institutions. 

13 ‘‘(c) MEASUREMENT OF WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EM14 POWERMENT.—To support the measurement of women’s 

15 economic empowerment, the Trade Representative shall 

16 encourage and support the reporting by beneficiary devel17 oping countries of sex-disaggregated economic and busi18 ness data, including the gathering of information con19 sistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development 

20 Goals, particularly the goals relating to gender equality 

21 and decent work.’’. 

22 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

23 contents for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended 

24 by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 504 the following: 


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‘‘Sec. 504A. Assessment of effectiveness in strengthening and maintaining 

internationally recognized worker rights and women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment.’’. 

1 (c) UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COM2 MISSION STUDY.—Not later than July 1, 2026, the United 

3 States International Trade Commission shall submit to 

4 Congress a report that contains a study on rules of origin, 

5 utilization rates, and eligibility requirements for articles 

6 under the Generalized System of Preferences program 

7 under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 

8 et seq.), including an assessment of— 

9 (1) the rate of utilization of the program by 

10 countries designated as least-developed beneficiary 

11 developing countries under section 502(a)(2) of that 

12 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a)(2)); 

13 (2) the effectiveness of the rules of origin of the 

14 program in— 

15 (A) promoting trade benefits to least-devel16 oped beneficiary developing countries under the 

17 program; and 

18 (B) preventing the transshipment of arti19 cles from countries that are not designated as 

20 beneficiary developing countries under section 

21 502(a)(1) of that Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a)(1)); 

22 and 


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1 (3) the requirements and procedures for desig2 nating articles as eligible articles under section 503 

3 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 2463), including— 

4 (A) the competitive need limitation under 

5 subsection (c)(2) of that section; and 

6 (B) the process for waiving that limitation 

7 under subsection (d) of that section. 

8 SEC. 203. EXTENSION OF GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREF9 ERENCES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 505 of the Trade Act of 

11 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2465) is amended by striking ‘‘December 

12 31, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2029’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

15 subsection (a) shall apply to articles entered on or 

16 after the 30th day after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act. 

18 (2) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION FOR CERTAIN

19 LIQUIDATIONS AND RELIQUIDATIONS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec21 tion 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

22 1514) or any other provision of law and subject 

23 to subparagraph (B), any entry of a covered ar24 ticle to which duty-free treatment or other pref25 erential treatment under title V of the Trade 


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1 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) would 

2 have applied if the entry had been made on De3 cember 31, 2020, that was made— 

4 (i) after December 31, 2020, and 

5 (ii) before the effective date specified 

6 in paragraph (1), 

7 shall be liquidated or reliquidated as though 

8 such entry occurred on the effective date speci9 fied in paragraph (1). 

10 (B) REQUESTS.—A liquidation or reliqui11 dation may be made under subparagraph (A) 

12 with respect to an entry only if a request there13 for is filed with U.S. Customs and Border Pro14 tection not later than 180 days after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act that contains suffi16 cient information to enable U.S. Customs and 

17 Border Protection— 

18 (i) to locate the entry; or 

19 (ii) to reconstruct the entry if it can20 not be located. 

21 (C) PAYMENT OF AMOUNTS OWED.—Any 

22 amounts owed by the United States pursuant to 

23 the liquidation or reliquidation of an entry of a 

24 covered article under subparagraph (A) shall be 

25 paid, without interest, not later than 90 days 


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1 after the date of the liquidation or reliquidation 

2 (as the case may be). 

3 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

4 (A) COVERED ARTICLE.—The term ‘‘cov5 ered article’’ means an article from a country 

6 that is a beneficiary developing country under 

7 title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

8 2461 et seq.) as of the effective date specified 

9 in paragraph (1). 

10 (B) ENTER; ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘enter’’ 

11 and ‘‘entry’’ include a withdrawal from ware12 house for consumption. 

Æ 


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