WASHINGTON, DC—So much for theorizing and leaked information from Washington insiders. In the end, Congress passed the EB-5 program unchanged from its current version. The measure was included, although technically it didn't have to be, as part of the $1.1 trillion spending and tax bill negotiated with the House of Representatives last night.
To be clear, this is not a done deal –- EB-5 or the spending measure. The full House of Representatives has to vote on the measure on Thursday leaving them less than the 48 hours Speaker of the House Paul Ryan promised for a review. The Senate has to pass it and the President has to sign it. The President has also indicated he will not sign another Continuing Resolution for further negotiations unless it is a very short term one.
That, however, is the concern of political Washington. For real estate developers that use this form of financing, the waiting is over – at least in terms of what EB-5 will look like.
Come back later for further coverage about what was included in the bill. Here's one hint: The FIRPTA expansions were included and several tax-extenders made permanent.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
