Coal Community Empowerment Act of 2017

Coal Community Empowerment Act of 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize tax incentives and grants for areas impacted by employment in coal mines.

Coal Community Zones are counties that either: (1) lost at least 50 coal mining jobs from 2011-2015 out of a total of not more than 20,000 employed workers in 2011, or (2) had at least 5% of their employment in coal mining on average from 2011-2015.

For taxpayers located in or investing in the zones, the bill allows:

• additional tax-exempt bonds,
• an employment tax credit for hiring individuals in the zones,
• additional expensing for business property,
• a deduction for building or revitalizing a commercial building,
• the elimination of capital gains taxes on certain gains that are invested in zones, and
• additional new markets tax credits to finance projects in the zones.

The Department of Labor and the Department of Education must jointly establish grant programs for:

• individual support accounts to fund education and training costs that will prepare individuals in zones for long-term, high-wage employment;
• the development, revamping, improvement, or expansion of education and training programs for zones in in-demand industry sectors or occupations or industries in local demand; and
• programs for businesses to provide in-house training and future employment to individuals in zones.