EB-5 legislative update: EB-5 Regional Center Program is extended, Senate bill proposes making program permanent

We are pleased that the Continuing Resolution passed by Congress yesterday includes a temporary extension of the EB-5 Regional Center Program. This extension allows the program to continue generating foreign direct investment and creating U.S. jobs through December 11, 2015.

In addition to extending the current program to December 11, this will also provide additional time for Congress to consider a long-term reauthorization bill that would include reform measures to strengthen federal oversight and the integrity of the program. Members of Congress from both parties and both the House and Senate are negotiating in good faith.

This week, two Senate bills were introduced that propose revisions to the EB-5 program.

Last week, our team closed $350 million in EB-5 financing for our developer clients. We have sourced more than $700 million in EB-5 financing for developer clients and believe the EB-5 program will continue to be an important source of funding for qualified projects.

We will continue to report on EB-5 developments as they unfold.

S. 1501 – American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform of 2015 Act

S. 1501, the American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform of 2015 Act, was introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy and Chuck Grassley in June. This important bill would reauthorize the Regional Center Program for five years, while reforming the program with oversight and security measures, and would make the program more transparent.

S. 2122 – Invest In Our Communities Act

Yesterday, I received an update from our friends at eb5investors.com that Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced Senate Bill 2122 (The Invest In Our Communities Act), which would make the EB-5 program permanent.

S. 2122 would strengthen the EB-5 program in five key areas:

• Making the program permanent
• Raising the total number of visas available under the EB-5 category
• Removing derivatives, meaning that visas for an investor’s spouse and children will not count towards the total number of allotted EB-5 visas
• Introducing transparency measures
• Keeping the Targeted Employment Area (TEA) investment amount at $500,000

Positive action on the bill will be enthusiastically anticipated in EB-5 community.

S. 2115 – Targeted Employment Areas Improvement Act

And today, we received a copy of a separate bill (S. 2115) introduced by Senator Jeff Flake captioned the Targeted Employment Areas Improvement Act. This bill focuses entirely on the definition of Targeted Employment Areas which qualify for a lower minimum investment than other areas – currently a $500,000 investment instead of a $1 million investment.

http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/eb-5-legislative-update-eb-5-regional-56873/

Mentions

• Jonathan Bloch

States

• New York