A Taxing War on Poverty
A Taxing War on Poverty

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Fordham Urban Law Journal

Fordham Urban Law Journal
Spring Symposium

A Taxing War on Poverty: Opportunity Zones and the Promise of Investment and Economic Development


Friday, February 26, 2021
10 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. EDT | program
via Zoom Webinar
About the Program
Following the 2008 Great Recession, general economic uncertainty and anxiety enveloped the United States but was more acutely felt in specific pockets of the nation.  Severely distressed areas across the country suffered from severe unemployment, low levels of and declines in public investment, and the lack of infrastructural improvements and access to private capital.  The seemingly localized adverse effects ultimately spilled over into the national economy.  

Responding to this economic despair, Senators Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and Tim Scott (R., S.C.) introduced the bipartisan bill Investing in Opportunity Act (IIOA) in 2016.  This bill proposed new tax incentives meant to spur investment in undercapitalized, distressed communities.  Later, Congress incorporated the bill into its 2017 tax overhaul, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).   Congress believed it drafted a provision to remedy the uneven economic recovery in the United States: Opportunity Zones (OZs).  These are low-income census tracts that lure private investment through private opportunity zone funds (OZFs), which reward investors with tax deferrals, reductions, and exclusions.  This program offers and operates with little oversight: first, states have wide discretion to choose the census tracts for investment, the U.S. Department of Treasury then certifies these selected census tracts, and once approved, investors can funnel money into businesses in these tracts through an OZF.  Since its inception, states have designated nearly 9,000 OZs across the nation in hopes of bringing economic growth to “blighted” areas.

The OZs program’s effectiveness in revitalizing distressed communities and overcoming regional economic inequality remains debatable.  The Fordham Urban Law Journal provides a forum for this discussion at its 2021 Symposium, “A Taxing War on Poverty: Opportunity Zones and the Promise of Investment and Economic Development.”  Alongside professors, attorneys, scholars, economists, investors, and advocates, the Symposium will explore what OZs are, the reasons for persistent gaps in access to capital in distressed areas, private-sector investment motivations, and the misnomers and shortcomings of OZs, as well as the possibilities of equitable or sustainable economic development.
Agenda

10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. | Dean’s Welcome Remarks
Dean Mathew Diller, Dean and Paul Fuller Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law

10:10 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | Panel 1 - Attracting Private Investment to Distressed Neighborhoods
(1.0 Professional Practice CLE)
Panelists
Stephanie Copeland, Partner at Four Points Funding, LLC
Catherine Lyons, Director of Policy and Coalitions at Economic Innovation Group (EIG)
Michael J. Novogradac, CPA Managing Partner at Novogradac
Professor Brandon M. Weiss, Associate Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law
Moderator: Charlie Metzger, Associate Editor for Fordham Urban Law Journal

11:15 - 11:20 a.m | Short Break

11:20 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | Panel 2 - A Comparative Lens: Analyzing Place-Based Initiatives
(1.0 Professional Practice CLE)
Panelists
Professor Edward W. De Barbieri, Associate Professor of Law at Albany Law School
Steve Glickman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Develop LLC
Professor Tracy A. Kaye, Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law
Professor Michelle D. Layser, Assistant Professor of Law at Illinois Law School
Moderator: Professor Nestor Davidson, Albert A. Walsh Chair in Real Estate, Land Use, & Property Law and Faculty Director of Urban Law Center at Fordham University School of Law

12:15 - 12:45 p.m. | Lunch Break

12:45 - 1:40 p.m. | Panel 3 - Systemic Racial Injustice: Gentrification Accelerated
(1.0 Professional Practice CLE)
Panelists
Professor Rashmi Dyal-Chand, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinary Education at Northeastern Law School
Bruce Katz, Co-Founder New Localism Advisors 
Professor Anika Singh Lemar, Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Yale Law School
Professor Christopher Tyson, Chief Executive Officer at Build Baton Rouge and Newman Trowbridge Distinguished Professor of Law at Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center

1:40 - 1:45 p.m. | Short Break

1:45 - 2:45 | Panel 4 - The Future of OZs: The Biden Administration and Beyond
(1.0 Professional Practice CLE)
Panelists
Professor Paula Franzese, Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law and Director of the Leadership Fellows Program at Seton Hall University School of Law
Alexander Golding, Marvin L Kay Fellow in Finance at George Washington University 
Professor Blaine G. Saito, Assistant Professor of Law at Northeastern Law School
Libin Zhang, Tax Partner, Fried Frank
Moderator: Professor Brandon M. Weiss, Associate Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law

*speakers and start time are subject to slight change
Register Here
CLE credit for the program is pending in accordance with the requirements of the New York State CLE Board for a maximum of 4.0 transitional and non transitional credits professional practice credits.
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