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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 14, 2016
Rebuilding and Renewing Rural America Act of 2016
This bill modifies: (1) tax and regulatory policies that affect certain rural communities, and (2) tax rules that apply to private foundations.
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to program-related investments made by private foundations for a charitable purpose, to:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
modify the definition of and requirements for program-related investments;
allow a declaratory judgment remedy to determine whether investments in any entity are program-related investments;
expand reporting requirements for for-profit entities that receive program-related investments; and
allow public inspection of petitions seeking a determination of program-related investment status and annual information returns.
The bill also includes several tax provisions that apply to rural renewal communities, which are low-income communities that: (1) have a population of at least 200 people but not more than 25,000 people, and are not located in a metropolitan area which has a population of 200,000 or more; or (2) are entirely within an Indian reservation.
With respect to such communities, the bill:
allows tax credits for a portion of the costs of reducing lead, radon, or asbestos hazards in rural commercial structures;
expands the new markets tax credit;
allows expensing of certain depreciable business assets;
reduces payroll taxes; and
allows tax-preferred rural renewal community business start-up savings accounts.
Reducing Excessive Government in Rural America Act of 2016
Congress must consider legislation to reduce the regulatory cost to rural America by at least 10% over 10 years by repealing certain regulations. The legislation must be considered using expedited legislative procedures specified in the bill.
People & committees
Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] · R–CO
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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