Courtesy of Politico, a bipartisan coalition of Virginia leaders (including Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and Tim Kaine) express their support for the Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act. From the article:
"A few years ago, Richmond couldn’t afford to borrow the money to turn a deteriorated, Depression-era high school into a modern K-12 facility. But local leaders and the Richmond City Council devised a novel solution. If the private sector rehabilitated this city high school into a regionally operated, high-tech high school for the top students in central Virginia, this could technically be seen as a “new” use. The IRS agreed. Using the 1986 law, this formerly run-down school is now home to one of the highest-ranked U.S. public high schools.
With that in mind, we all support the Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act, legislation that would eliminate this roadblock to school renovation and allow local governments to use the historic building rehabilitation tax credit. The legislation isn’t a silver bullet. But it is the only proposal before Congress to leverage private capital to help modernize our public schools."
