HB 1324 creates the “Washington Rural Development and Opportunity Zone Act.”

The act establishes an insurance premium tax credit and a B&O tax credit for taxpayers that make a capital contribution to a rural development and opportunity zone fund. The bill requires the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Committee (JLARC) to determine the number of jobs created or retained, and whether that matches or exceeds the predicted job growth after a 6-year period. This bill also extends the preferential tax rates to 2056 for persons engaging in the business of extracting timber, extracting timber for hire, manufacturing timber, manufacturing timber for hire, wholesaling timber, or selling standing timber. The specific policy objective stated in the bill is to create and retain jobs in rural development and opportunity zones.

Dates to remember

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing on Wednesday, January 30 in the House Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Committee at 8 am. A live feed or an archived video of the hearing can be found on the TVW website.