This article first appeared on CUCollaborate
The leaders of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus are questioning whether CDFI Fund officials are short-circuiting the regulatory process as they consider major changes to the program.
“Stakeholders have expressed concern that the publishing of the new CDFI certification application and guidance by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) on November 4, 2022, may have been procedurally insufficient,” Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Mike Crapo, R-Id., wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday.
Context
In proposing changes to the CDFI application and certification process using the PRA, Treasury and CDFI Fund officials did not have to go through a lengthy regulatory process before adopting the updates.
The proposed changes were issued in November and comments were solicited. The fund expects to use the new certification and application process starting on April 3.
Concerns from CU groups
Financial trade groups also have questioned that process, with credit union groups contending that the new certification requirements could make it impossible for some credit unions to become certified or recertified.
In their letter to Yellen, the senators also said that some within the CDFI community have expressed concern that industry input is not being considered.
