Another key proposal is a federal homeownership tax credit. This concept has the support of President Bush and should receive broad bipartisan support in Congress. And, one more key proposal is the elimination of regulatory barriers to the production of work force housing. The reason for this proposal is that many communities presently use zoning and other regulations to preclude the production of work force housing. To remedy this problem we propose linking funding incentives within federal transportation programs and the HOME and Community Development Block Grant programs to the production of work force housing. We also seek to promote the formation of public, private and nonprofit coalitions to facilitate barrier removal and facilitate the assembly of urban land for housing and economic development purposes.
Taken together, we hope our recommendations will help shape a broader dialogue on urban renewal. President Bush has articulated the broader issue as creating an ownership society within which there will be specific opportunity zones, which would include many of our nations' economically distressed urban centers as well as rural areas and the territories. A substantial piece of that effort is the creation of a special collaboration with the National Urban League to create an entrepreneur network, which will include one-stop centers for business training, counseling, financing and contracting. A number of federal agencies including the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency and other agencies will help provide resources and outreach for minority enterprise.
Finally, on a more macro-level, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R.-Wisc., have introduced legislation to jump-start the infusion of capital into these areas with their National Enterprise Zones legislation. Their legislation would "greenline" designated areas for pro-growth tax treatment on income, savings and investment within the zone as a means of fueling economic growth so that opportunity zones and our more specific recommendations will produce maximum positive results.
With presidential leadership, I have no doubt that these seemingly disparate ideas, working together, will help pave the way toward homeownership, opportunity and economic growth to our nation's cities and other economically distressed areas of the country.