Title: INVEST Act
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Inspiring Nationally Vibrant Economies Sustaining Tribes Act of 2020 or the INVEST Act
This bill expands the definition of low-income community for purposes of the new markets tax credit to include lands held in trust for Native Americans, lands that enclose all or part of a Native American village, or Indian tribal lands. It also prioritizes the allocation of credit amounts for investment in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities and requires an allocation of at least 10% of credit amounts to certain Indian community development entities for investments that primarily serve low-income communities.
The bill directs the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior to provide technical assistance to qualified Indian community development entities regarding applications for allocations of the new markets tax credit and to work with the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to provide assistance to such entities.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3181 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3181

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the new markets 
    tax credit to assist Native American communities, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 9, 2020

 Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. Sullivan) 
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 expand the new markets 
    tax credit to assist Native American communities, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Inspiring Nationally Vibrant 
Economies Sustaining Tribes Act of 2020'' or the ``INVEST Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT.

    (a) Low-Income Community.--Paragraph (1) of section 45D(e) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) Definition.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `low-income community' 
                means--
                            ``(i) any population census tract if--
                                    ``(I) the poverty rate for such 
                                tract is at least 20 percent, or
                                    ``(II)(aa) in the case of a tract 
                                not located within a metropolitan area, 
                                the median family income for such tract 
                                does not exceed 80 percent of statewide 
                                median family income, or
                                    ``(bb) in the case of a tract 
                                located within a metropolitan area, the 
                                median family income for such tract 
                                does not exceed 80 percent of the 
                                greater of statewide median family 
                                income or the metropolitan area median 
                                family income,
                            ``(ii) any trust land (as defined at 
                        section 3765 of title 38, United States Code),
                            ``(iii) any land within a township that 
                        encloses all or part of a Native village (as 
                        defined in section 3(c) of the Alaska Native 
                        Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(c)), or
                            ``(iv) any land that is part or all of a 
                        Tribal designated statistical area associated 
                        with an Indian tribe as defined by the Census 
                        Bureau for the purposes of the most recent 
                        decennial census.
                    ``(B) Median family income.--Subclause (II) of 
                subparagraph (A)(i) shall be applied using 
                possessionwide median family income in the case of 
                census tracts located within a possession of the United 
                States.''.
    (b) Allocation of National Limitation.--
            (1) In general.--Section 45D(f)(2) of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``shall give priority to'' 
        and all that follows and inserting ``shall--
                    ``(A) give priority to any entity--
                            ``(i) with a record of having successfully 
                        provided capital or technical assistance to 
                        disadvantaged businesses or communities or to 
                        Indian tribes or Native American communities, 
                        or
                            ``(ii) which intends to satisfy the 
                        requirement under subsection (b)(1)(B) by 
                        making qualified low-income community 
                        investments in 1 or more businesses in which 
                        persons unrelated to such entity (within the 
                        meaning of section 267(b) or 707(b)(1)) hold 
                        the majority equity interest, and
                    ``(B) ensure that not less than 10 percent of such 
                limitation is allocated to qualified Indian community 
                development entities for investments that primarily 
                serve low-income communities described in clauses (ii), 
                (iii), and (iv) of subsection (e)(1)(A).''.
            (2) Qualified indian community development entity.--Section 
        45D(f) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new paragraph:
            ``(4) Qualified indian community development entity.--For 
        purposes of paragraph (2)(B), the term `qualified Indian 
        community development entity' means any qualified community 
        development entity which is--
                    ``(A) at least 51 percent owned and controlled by 
                an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the 
                Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 
                (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)), or
                    ``(B) a Native community development financial 
                institution (as defined in section 103 of the Community 
                Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 
                1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702)).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to calendar years beginning after December 31, 2020.

SEC. 3. NATIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Definition of a Native Community Development Financial 
Institution.--Section 103 of the Community Development Banking and 
Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (18) through (21) as 
        paragraphs (19) through (22), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (17) the following:
            ``(18) Native community development financial 
        institution.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `Native community 
                development financial institution' means a community 
                development financial institution--
                            ``(i) the activities of which not less than 
                        51 percent serve Native Americans; or
                            ``(ii) that is not less than 51 percent 
                        owned or controlled Native Americans.
                    ``(B) Native americans.--In this paragraph, the 
                term `Native Americans' has the meaning given the term 
                in section 3765 of title 38, United States Code.''.
    (b) Assistance for Native Community Development Financial 
Institutions.--Section 108(a) of the Community Development Banking and 
Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4707(a)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Assistance for native community development financial 
        institutions.--The Fund shall provide financial assistance, 
        technical assistance, and training to build the capacity of 
        Native community development financial institutions.''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, shall--
            (1) establish a program to provide technical assistance to 
        qualified Indian community development entities (as defined in 
        section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) with respect 
        to the process for applications for allocations of the new 
        markets tax credit under section 45D of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986; and
            (2) work with the Director of the Community Development 
        Financial Institutions Fund to provide assistance to qualified 
        Indian community development entities to improve the 
        competitiveness of applications for such allocations.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section 
$500,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
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