On November 6, 2017 the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee began the markup of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. If passed, this legislation as currently drafted would effectively eliminate the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, which has been widely recognized as one of the most effective Federal programs to create jobs and promote small business in distressed rural and urban communities. The NMTC Program works to break the cycle of disinvestment in low-income communities by attracting the private investment necessary to reinvigorate struggling local economies. For every $1 of federal funding, the Program generates $8 of private investment.