Expansion of Designated Renewal Community Area Based on 2000 Census Data

EXPANSION OF DESIGNATED RENEWAL COMMUNITY AREA BASED ON 2000 CENSUS DATA -- (House of Representatives - May 17, 2004)

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Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4193, which the House is considering today under suspension of the rules.
I want to take a moment to recognize the work done by my colleague, Representative QUINN, who introduced the original bill, H.R. 840, which serves as a basis for H.R. 4193. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of the earlier bill, which would expand the areas of Renewal Communities based on more recent census information.

Teh Renewal Communities Initiative combines tax credits and other provisions designed to revive some of the nation's more impoverished distressed areas. These cities can take advantage of federal wage credits, tax deductions, capital gains exclusions, and bond financing to stimulate economic development and job growth. Each incentive is tailored to meet the particular needs of a business and offers a significant inducement for companies to locate and hire additional workers.

We have come close before to enacting this commonsense change, but this time we cannot fail.

This is too great an issue of importance to the country, and in particular, my district in Western New York.
Due to a loss of population in the 1990's, my area would greatly benefit from this change.

Out of five Renewal Communities designated in New York State, three are in my district: Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester.

According to Fannie Mae, this technical change would allow 14 more census tracts to qualify in Rochester, 16 more tracts in Buffalo-Lackawanna, and seven additional census tracts in Niagara Falls.

Each city in my district needs these incentives to expand jobs and promote business investment in our downtown areas. The statistics from my district paint the bleak picture.

The March 2004 employment figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor in late April revealed that the Buffalo-Niagara Falls market had the highest unemployment rate increase over the past year among all major metropolitan areas with one million or more residents.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Buffalo's unemployment rate in March was 7.4 percent, up 1.1 points from 6.3 percent a year ago. The number of unemployed was 42,000 this year. In March, Rochester's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent according, with 700 more area people employed in March than in February. However, that is still 4,400 fewer people than had jobs in March 2003.

Manufacturers have slashed about 4,600 jobs in the last year. The biggest dip was in jobs producing nondurable goods such as film-an 8.7 percent drop. This decease was mainly a result of Eastman Kodak Co.'s continued downsizing.

The Renewal communities program seeks to entice businesses to develop commercial property and hire local employees. I strongly believe that the federal government can be an important partner in local efforts to spur economic development. The program provides critical tools to help with that partnership.

The expansion of the Renewal Communities program would give these cities the necessary spark to reignite their
economic engines. I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4193.

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