EB-5 Outlook 2021: questions about legislation and reauthorization

2/17/2021 Update: Please visit my new Reauthorization Page, which collects resources that answer many of my questions below.

— Original Post —

On Wednesday January 6 at 2 pm EST, Carolyn Lee is hosting an EB-5 Outlook 2021 Webinar (register here) with guests Bill Gresser, Adam Greene, and me. Carolyn is Legislative Counsel to IIUSA, a 4-term Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers national EB-5 Committee, and industry godmother. Bill is Vice-Chair of IIUSA’s Board of Directors, and both Bill and Adam are former chairs of IIUSA’s Public Policy Committee and industry leaders. [1/5 update: Bill Gresser and Adam Greene no longer plan to join the webinar.] I am famous for asking questions.

This webinar aims to start 2021 right, with dialogue. I look forward to hearing perspectives, and to raising questions. So far I’ve prepared a list of questions regarding prospects for EB-5 legislation and regional center program authorization before the new sunset date of June 30, 2021. Of course a small panel speaking informally can’t possibly answer all these big questions, but any discussion is a good start. I hope that the discussion will grow, and that IIUSA/the industry will eventually speak to questions like these. (I may also volunteer my labor to ask questions on a larger scale — currently contemplating a conducting a survey to assess the range of regional center interests and concerns with respect to legislation and specific Grassley/Leahy proposals. Regional centers, contact me if you’d like to see this and have suggestions.) Meanwhile, feel free to add your questions re 2021 outlook to the comments on this post.

Suzanne’s questions regarding 2021 outlook for EB-5 legislation and regional center program authorization

1. Legislative activity coming soon…
   • Is there any chance of a “clean” regional center program extension beyond June 30, 2021, or will regional center program reauthorization certainly come with significant program changes?
   • Do you expect to see Grassley and Leahy reintroduce their EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act promptly in 2021?
   • Is it possible/probable that anyone else in the House or Senate might introduce EB-5 legislation shortly? If so, would such alternative legislation have a chance to proceed?
   • How much attention is EB-5 likely to get between now and June? Do you expect things like committee hearings and significant discussion around stand-alone EB-5 legislation, or is it more likely that RC program authorization would get tacked on to some other more important legislation? (And if so, what might that be?)
2. Regarding the Grassley/Leahy EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act…
   • What are the major concerns/barriers in Congress for the Grassley/Leahy bill?
   • What are the major questions/concerns in the industry for the Grassley/Leahy bill?
   • What has been done/will be done to identify and address those questions, concerns, and barriers?
   • To what extent is the Grassley/Leahy bill still open to negotiation?
   • If you think the Grassley/Leahy bill as-is represents the best possible option for regional center program authorization, what’s the reason for thinking that?
3. Interests and goals…
   • What are Grassley/Leahy trying to accomplish with the bill? Whom are they trying to benefit?
   • What have industry negotiators been trying to accomplish with legislation? For what priorities have they been advocating?
   • Is there any hope/plan/timeline to realize these items not in the Grassley/Leahy bill: More visas for EB-5; More marketable EB-5 investment amount/TEA definition
4. Options for participation, collaboration, and engagement…
   • How can a concerned regional center get a hearing for their input to EB-5 legislation?
   • Any options for concerned investors to assist or influence the process?
   • What can IIUSA do to identify and address concerns, and broaden involvement in and support for EB-5 legislation?
   • What needs to happen in the next few months to ensure that the regional center program gets extended?
5. Outlook for reauthorization…
   • Do you see any chance of the regional center program being allowed to sunset? If that happened, what would be the likely reason?
   • Do you see any chance of regional center program authorization being allowed to lapse for a time? If that happened, what would be the likely reason?
   • EB-5 legislation has been actively discussed since 2015, but not passed. What reason is there to hope for a result in the next six months?
   • As people involved in the process, what lessons have you learned from past legislative efforts that you intend to apply going forward?