Sinema-Backed Bipartisan Bill Creates Jobs for Rural Arizona

Press Release

WASHINGTON -- Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema cosponsored the Rural Jobs Act--bipartisan legislation boosting the New Markets Tax Credit in rural communities in Arizona and across the country to help drive economic investment and create jobs in communities with less than 50,000 residents.

"Boosting tax credits to encourage investment in rural Arizona communities will help create good-paying jobs and continue fueling Arizona's economic recovery," said Sinema.

The Sinema-backed Rural Jobs Act boosts the flow of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to rural communities by creating Rural Job Zones, which are low-income communities that already qualify for the New Market Tax Credit, have a population smaller than 50,000 residents, and are not adjacent to an urban area. The bill designates $500 million in NMTC allocations in 2022 and 2023 for those Rural Job Zones and requires that at least 25 percent of new investment activity be targeted to persistent poverty counties and high migration counties.

Since it was established in 2003, the New Market Tax Credit has funded 96 Arizona businesses and economic projects -- from health care to energy to education -- through $1.5 billion in investments, helping create 17,800 Arizona jobs.

In Arizona, the Rural Jobs Act is estimated to help drive significant investment into Apache County, Graham County, Navajo County, and Santa Cruz County in particular, though much of Arizona would also benefit.

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