ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 5, 1993                   TAG: 9305050026
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium


CLINTON TO TEST `EMPOWERMENT ZONES'

President Clinton wants to test his prescription for curing urban ills by doling out benefits to 110 communities, including tax breaks to businesses that hire people living in poor areas.

The administration calls them "empowerment zones," but they are a Clintonized version of "enterprise zone" proposals that never became law under 12 years of Republican government.

"I think it offers a good opportunity for us to show that America can work," Clinton said Tuesday during a conference call from the Oval Office with leaders of six urban and rural communities. The legislation, which was sent to Congress later in the day, would mostly target urban areas.

Under the program, $4.1 billion in new money and up to another $4 billion from the current budget would be targeted to 110 rural or urban communities over five years. The $8.1 billion would attract jobs and make it easier for residents to get and hold those jobs.

All of the new money would give tax incentives to businesses in 10 "empowerment zones," low-income areas with fewer than 200,000 people.

Of the $4.1 billion in tax breaks, about $3.1 billion would be employment and training wage credits.

Companies located in the zone could get a $5,000 credit for every employee who lives in the zone. Companies located outside the zone that hire zone residents could get a $2,400 per-employee credit.

Administration officials said President Bush's enterprise zone plan based its credits on the amount of capital a company invests, whereas Clinton's program focuses on labor.

The other 100 zones - called "enterprise communities" by the administration - will not get tax incentives, but can apply for modest grants for grass-roots projects that attract jobs and improve the community. Some examples: worker training, day care, police officers, bank capital, housing and drug prevention.



 by CNB