Read more at the Washington CU Daily
Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee are asking congressional budget writers for an $8.5 million increase for the National Credit Union Administration’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund in FY22.
That represents an increase of almost 567% over the $1.5 million the program received during the current fiscal year. The Democrats said that 40% of the CDRLF funds should be set aside for Minority Depository Institutions.
The requests are contained in the committee’s “Views and Estimates Report,” a document which each authorizing committee sends to its corresponding congressional budget committee. Each report reflects the priorities of the authorizing committee and is not binding on the budget or appropriation committees.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic further disadvantaged low-income and communities of color, [Community Development Financial Institutions] and MDIs maintained their focus on helping small and minority-owned businesses in their communities while big banks prioritized supporting their wealthy existing clients,” Financial Services Committee Democrats said, in the report they adopted last week.
In passing the “Views and Estimates Report,” Democrats defeated a Republican amendment that would have subjected the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the annual appropriations process. The Democrats said in the report that during the Trump Administration, the CFPB’s enforcement activity decreased sharply, adding that rules that were adopted during the Obama Administration were shelved or weakened.
The Democrats also wrote that they are concerned that the CFPB was weakened during the Trump Administration, adding that they will reject any proposal to subject the agency to the annual appropriations process. The CFPB is now funded through the Federal Reserve system. The Democrats said it is vital for the federal agency designed to protect consumers in the financial marketplace to remain independent with consistent funding.
The panel’s Democrats said the committee will consider legislation that would require financial institutions to disclose their diversity policies and practices to the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at their respective regulatory agencies. The institutions would be required to conduct compensation equity analyses as well.
The Democrats indicated that they will again try to pass a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program. The last long-term authorization of the program expired on Sept. 30, 2017. Since then, Congress has enacted short-term extensions of the NFIP; the current extension expires on Sept. 30.
