U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in Rock Hill, talks about criticism of opportunity zones
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott spoke Tuesday at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center where he put special emphasis on his “hidden jewel.”
The Opportunity Zone program is what Scott, R-South Carolina, secured as part of the 2017 tax reform law. It provides tax incentives to help develop economically-distressed areas across the country. The zones are selected by governors based on low-income census tracts.
In the 5th District, ten census tracts were selected by Gov. Henry McMaster and designated opportunity zones. The four Rock Hill tracts cover much of downtown.
“I snuck it into the tax reform package,” Scott said. “My colleagues would say, ‘What is that opportunity zone thing in the tax code?’ I’d say ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s just a little thing.’”
The crowd of about 50 people laughed.
“I was praying no one would ask me a question...So I could keep my hidden jewel hidden long enough so that the bipartisan coalition that was supporting the legislation will continue to support the legislation,” he said.
Scott said he’s excited to see that Rock Hill has taken advantage of the legislation.
“Encouraging the private sector to take a second look at areas that they had said ‘No’ to already is the thought and the vision of the Opportunity Zone legislation,” Scott said. “I was hopeful that somewhere in America, hopefully here at home in South Carolina, there would be a collaboration, a meeting of the minds of those who have and those who had a lot of potential.”
Mayor John Gettys said the program has benefited Rock Hill as over 50 affordable housing units will be built in downtown Rock Hill in the next five years.
“We’ve had zero affordable housing units built in downtown Rock Hill over the last 30 years,” Gettys said. “The difference between those two is opportunity zones.”
He also said the city will see more development with the program, which in turn will create more than 4,000 jobs in the downtown area.
“So, we’re excited to see all these jobs that will come to our community that would not have come if it were not for opportunity zones,” Gettys said.
The timing of Scott’s event comes a week after U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, announced he will file legislation to restructure the Opportunity Zone program. Clyburn said the program disproportionately benefits rich investors, according to The State newspaper.
In an interview after the event, Scott called Clyburn’s criticism “laughable” and said his legislation has support from mayors across the country, including Gettys.
“You just can’t sit around and worry about those who are criticizing the program,” Scott said in the interview. “As far as I can tell, it is the only program of its type that’s actually succeeding, and legislatively successful is important.”
Scott said he did not come to Rock Hill to defend the program. He said Gettys has been inviting the senator to come for several months and the scheduling worked out.
“The program is going to defend itself to be honest with you,” he said in the interview. “Number one, it’s law. Number two, we’re not changing the law. Number three, all the criticism only means that the very people that it hopes to help are going to be detrimentally impacted by the negativity from the Democrats who say that they want to be helpful to those very people.”
Aside from Rock Hill, Scott said other cities across the country are benefiting from the program. He listed cities in Tennessee, Maine, Texas, along with major South Carolina cities that are seeing more development because of his legislation.
“The focus is on the community,” Scott said. “If the community is not benefiting, there won’t be an opportunity zone and I won’t be supporting it. I’ve said that publicly several times and I continue to say that even today. If the community does not benefit from the opportunity zone legislation, I’ll call for it to be rescinded.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 8:02 PM.
