Trump is Scheduled to Deliver Speech at Summit Promoting His Opportunity Now Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Tax March and Action NC released the following statements ahead of President Trump’s speech at the North Carolina Opportunity Now Summit, where the president is expected to promote his disastrous Opportunity Zones program that is part of the unpopular 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The program, which promises to “draw investments into neglected and underserved” communities, continues to solely enrich wealthy developers at the expense of Black and Brown working class communities. It is currently being investigated by the US Treasury Department.

“Clearly not satisfied with only lying about the effectiveness of Opportunity Zones during the State of the Union address, the president is now bringing these falsehoods to North Carolina,” said Dana Bye, Campaign Director of Tax March. “Opportunity Zones are nothing more than a tool utilized by wealthy corporate developers and billionaires to use working class communities as personal piggy banks to further enrich themselves. While Trump continues to abuse his bully pulpit to promote this portion of the GOP tax scam, the fact remains that opportunity zones do nothing to revitalize vulnerable communities. This president has proven time and time again that he is only invested in filling his coffers and those of his wealthy friends at the expense of everyday Americans, and he clearly has no problem abusing our tax code to do so.”

“Opportunity zones sound good in principal, but in practice they too often benefit the wealthy as a tax break rather than the communities the zones are supposed to lift up,” said Robert Dawkins, Political Director of Action NC. “Opportunity zones tend to diminish property values around them, and can accelerate displacement in neighborhoods already subject to gentrification. Communities with the greatest need for investment need investments that actually increase their residents’ wealth, not just the wealth of those who are wealthy already.”

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