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Advocates for long term reauthorization of the EB-5 program will be glad to know that there has finally been progress in the legislative arena. Today, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Patrick Leahy (D-V.T.) introduced the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2021 to Congress. The bill aims to secure long term reauthorization for the EB-5 program, and institute reforms to protect Investors from fraud. The announcement was followed by support for the bill from the non-profit industry trade association, Invest in the USA (IIUSA).
Senators Grassley and Leahy have been working with industry trade group, Invest in the USA (IIUSA) for the past several months in hopes of securing long term reauthorization and reforms for the EB-5 program. According to IIUSA, Grassley and Leahy originally tried to introduce the bill last December, as part of the Federal omnibus budget, but were unable to have the bill included in time. This left the EB-5 program in a state of limbo, as the Federal Budget only authorized the program through June 30, 2021. This January IIUSA announced that it saw introducing the Grassley/Leahy bill as the best path forward for the EB-5 program and that they would be working toward that goal.
If passed, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2021 would reauthorize the EB-5 program through 2026, and “provides additional transparency and integrity measures to improve accountability of applicants, Regional Centers, and their economic development projects”. Those interested in the finer details of the legislation can find a summary of the bill here, or read the bill’s full text here.
As was expected, IIUSA has fully endorsed the legislation. In a statement released today by the trade association, IIUSA Executive director Aaron Grau said, “I am pleased to share our unanimous support of… the bill…Members of Congress and the EB-5 community have agreed for years that the Regional Center Program needs integrity reforms to achieve long-term reauthorization, to protect good-faith immigrant investors; to support good-faith regional centers, and to provide appropriate oversight that still allows the Program to prosper – this bill does all four.”
Senators Grassley and Leahy statements also reinforced the optimistic attitude that the bill will secure the EB-5 program’s future. Grassley said “I hope, with IIUSA’s support, that we are finally able to get this long-term reauthorization and reform package across the finish line… Our bill corrects many defects in the current program and improves accountability so that it functions as Congress intended. I look forward to this bill becoming law.”
Leahy also emphasized the importance of the reforms stating, “I welcome IIUSA’s endorsement of this much-needed bipartisan bill to clean up the EB-5 program… Congress must act decisively to comprehensively address… the EB-5 program. Our bill would do just that”
While there is still a great deal of work to be done before the bill is passed into law, its bipartisan support, and industry endorsements bodes well for its future passage into law.
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Why was this bill blocked before? What would make this time differen?
There are a lot of reasons why. Government gridlock is certainly one. Previously the expiration of the EB-5 Regional Center Program was aligned with the general budget legislation. So each time a budget bill had to be passed by congress, congress extended out the EB-5 Regional Center program until the end of the next fiscal year, along with funding for all of the budgeted programs. This last go-around, the EB-5 Regional Center program was unlinked from the rest of the budget deadlines, and only extended until June 30, 2021. The benefits of the EB-5 Regional Center program to the U.S. economy are so profound, with tens of thousands of U.S. jobs created and billions of dollars of foreign investment pouring into the U.S. economy. There is bipartisan support for the EB-5 Regional Center program to be reformed with long-term reauthorization. This new Grassley/Leahy legislation is very exciting news for the EB-5 industry.
Thanks for the reply. Are you saying the congress is incentified to pass it just for the sake of extending the program? If so, why was it decoupled from other feder program renewal that led to this position?