Professor Deanna Newton's Article, Closing the Opportunity Gap, Reviewed by Dorothy Brown in Jotwell

Professor Deanna S. Newton's North Carolina Law Review article, Closing the Opportunity Gap, (SSRN), is reviewed by Georgetown Law professor Dorothy Brown in the Jotwell article, "Opportunity Zones: A Better Path Forward."

Excerpt from "Opportunity Zones: A Better Path Forward"

Professor Deanna S. Newton’s article, Closing the Opportunity Gap, is an example of the best of legal scholarship, one which provides a thorough critique of a well-known problem, but also engages with unique policy prescriptions designed to actually make a difference. The article discusses Opportunity Zones, introduced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and designed to “encourage investment in economically distressed areas by offering investors tax benefits.” (P. 1161.)

Professor Newton begins by acknowledging the most frequent critique of Opportunity Zones, namely “that most benefits from Opportunity Zone legislation go to wealthy investors rather than the residents within Opportunity Zones.” (P. 1161.) Her Introduction includes an anecdote about how then-Florida Governor Rick Scott designated a West Palm Beach area “that houses $100 million superyachts” as an Opportunity Zone area, but left behind “three low-income areas” because they did not receive such a designation. (P. 1162.)

The complete review may be found at Jotwell