[CircleUp] Key Congressional Committees Approve More than $240 Million for CDFI Fund

[Info]

12 MILLION FOR NATIVE INITIATIVES NOW BEING RECOMMENDED..

 

 

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $246.75 million for
the CDFI Fund in FY2010. The Subcommittee on Financial Services and General
Government recommended this amount for full Committee approval earlier this
week. This amount includes $80 million for the Capital Magnet Fund, $12
million for Native American Initiatives, and up to $18 million for
administrative expenses, including those associated with the New Markets Tax
Credit. The Senate bill proposes $3.15 million more than the President's
request and the House version (discussed below); this funding is to be
dedicated to "a pilot program to be conducted in Hawaii for financial
education and pre-homeownership counseling."

 

The legislation proposes to waive the matching requirement and cap limiting
funds to an individual CDFI, as was the case in the FY2009 and "stimulus"
awards, though it makes clear that this waiver is not intended to be a
permanent action.

 

The Senate Committee action follows unusually quickly on the heels of House
Appropriations Committee approval of $243.6 million for the Fund, including
$80 million for the Capital Magnet Fund, $10 million for Native American
initiatives ($2 million less than the Senate), $22 million for the Bank
Enterprise Award Program (the Senate makes no specific mention of an amount
to be dedicated to BEA), and $1 million to continue the financial counseling
grants pilot program created in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act last
year. The language approved by the House Committee states, "The Committee
strongly supports the CDFI Fund program [and] notes that poverty, lack of
economic opportunity, and lack of low-cost financial services continue to be
problems across much of the nation, particularly in many Hispanic-American,
African-American, Native American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Alaska
Native, and other minority communities. The Committee appreciates the
ongoing efforts of the CDFI Fund to work to remedy the particular problems
in these communities and strongly encourages the CDFI Fund to continue to
place a heavy emphasis on these efforts." 

 

In the same set of bills, the House appropriators recommended $13 million
(the same as the President's request) for the Small Business Administration
(SBA) Microloan program and the Senate recommended $25 million. The FY2009
level is $22.5 million. The House Committee and the President justified the
proposed decrease by pointing out $30 million in stimulus funding for the
program that SBA has yet to obligate. The House bill includes language
directing the SBA to provide a plan within 30 days for obligating both the
stimulus funds and the FY2010 funds, and encourages the SBA to "provide
emergency technical assistance grants to intermediary microlenders to allow
these lenders to service borrowers [including to provide loan workouts and
refinancing] and maintain healthy loan portfolios."

 

 

 

Cheryl Neas

Senior Vice President, Policy Development

Opportunity Finance Network

215.320.4309

www.opportunityfinance.net

 

Celebrating 25 years of opportunity finance!

 

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