HLS 20RS-1829 ENGROSSED
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 87
BY REPRESENTATIVE MAGEE
TAX CREDITS: Urges and requests that any proclamation convening an extraordinary
session of the legislature in 2020 include an extension of effectiveness and changes
to eligibility requirements of the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request that extension of effectiveness and changes to the eligibility
3 requirements of the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit incentive provided
4 for in R.S. 47:6019 be included in any proclamation convening an extraordinary
5 session of the legislature in 2020.
6 WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, Governor John Bel Edwards invoked his authority
7under the Louisiana Health Emergency Powers Act, R.S. 29:760 et seq., to issue Emergency
8Proclamation Number 25 JBE 2020, which declared a statewide public health emergency as
9a result of the imminent threat posed to Louisiana citizens by the outbreak of a respiratory
10disease caused by the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19; and
11 WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the governor issued Emergency Proclamation
12Number 27 JBE 2020, which supplemented the measures taken in Emergency Proclamation
13Number 25 JBE 2020 with additional restrictions to further protect the health and safety of
14the public; and
15 WHEREAS, on March 22, 2020, the governor issued Emergency Proclamation
16Number 33 JBE 2020, which implemented a general stay-at-home order to the public and
17additional measures including the temporary closure of certain businesses, further limiting
18the operations of certain non-essential businesses to the public in an effort to mitigate the
19impact of COVID-19 and to disrupt the spread of the virus; and
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HCR NO. 87
1 WHEREAS, on April 30, 2020, the governor issued Emergency Proclamation
2Number 52 JBE 2020, which extended the general stay-at-home order included in
3Emergency Proclamation Number 33 JBE 2020, including closure of nonessential businesses
4and postponement or canceling of gatherings of ten or more people in a single space at the
5same time where individuals will be in close proximity to one another; and
6 WHEREAS, many businesses in the hospitality sector such as hotels and restaurants,
7have experienced serious hardship and financial disruption due to COVID-19; and
8 WHEREAS, the ability of these businesses to expeditiously return to their previous
9levels of operation is critical to Louisiana's economy, as well as state and local government
10revenues; and
11 WHEREAS, many historic rehabilitation projects currently under construction or
12poised to begin construction, have stalled or halted due to the inability of labor to work
13under the general stay-at-home orders; and
14 WHEREAS, supplies and deliveries for historic rehabilitation projects currently
15under construction have been impacted due to COVID-19; and
16 WHEREAS, the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit incentive provided in
17R.S. 47:6019 is designed to encourage private sector investment in the redevelopment of
18income-producing, often blighted and vacant historic buildings in certified cultural districts
19and downtown development districts; and
20 WHEREAS, historic structures have been rehabilitated and revitalized, transforming
21schools, warehouses, and factories into hotels, restaurants, theaters, affordable housing,
22community centers, senior living facilities, and other viable commercial buildings; and
23 WHEREAS, a study conducted by PlaceEconomics for the Department of Culture,
24Recreation and Tourism in 2017 indicated over eight hundred historic structures have been
25rehabilitated utilizing the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit, resulting in over
26three thousand annual jobs, including one thousand seven hundred twenty-five direct jobs
27and one thousand four hundred twenty-nine indirect jobs each year; and
28 WHEREAS, the study indicated the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit
29generates eight dollars and seventy-six cents in economic activity for every one dollar in tax
30credits; and
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HCR NO. 87
1 WHEREAS, the study also indicated the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit
2leverages federal capital available through the federal historic tax credit, with fifty-eight and
3nine tenths percent of the federal historic tax credit used in Louisiana during the last decade
4being directly attributable to the existence of the rehabilitation of historic structures tax
5credit; and
6 WHEREAS, the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit was utilized following
7natural disasters and economic recessions as an efficient and effective economic recovery
8tool; and
9 WHEREAS, the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit is effective through
10January 1, 2022; and
11 WHEREAS, during any extraordinary session of the legislature in 2020, the
12legislature should consider legislation extending the effectiveness of the rehabilitation of
13historic structures tax credit and continuing the tax credit incentive to rehabilitate existing
14infrastructure located in certified cultural districts or downtown development districts; and
15 WHEREAS, during any extraordinary session of the legislature in 2020, the
16legislature should consider legislation that improves the tax credit by authorizing additional
17incentives for investments such as rehabilitating historic structures located in opportunity
18zones and parishes with a population of less than two hundred thousand; and
19 WHEREAS, during any extraordinary session of the legislature in 2020, the
20legislature should consider legislation that encourages private capital investment through the
21rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit in historic structures that include an allocation
22of federal low-income housing tax credits or federal new markets tax credits, which are
23authorized for projects located in low-income census tracts, or small projects that incur a
24minimum number of eligible costs and expenses.
25 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
26urge and request that extension of effectiveness and changes to the eligibility requirements
27of the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit incentive provided for in R.S. 47:6019
28be included in any proclamation convening an extraordinary session of the legislature in
292020.
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HCR NO. 87
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
2governor of the state of Louisiana, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
3president of the Senate.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 87 Engrossed 2020 Regular Session Magee
To urge and request that extension of effectiveness and changes to the eligibility
requirements of the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit incentive provided for in
R.S. 47:6019 be included in any proclamation convening an extraordinary session in 2020.
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