The Biden Administration released a bare-bones funding blueprint for next year and it proposes a 22.2% increase for the Community Development Financial Institutions program, the opposite of Trump Administration budgets which always called for elimination of the program.
Credit union trade groups report that the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department are still failing to anticipate problems with the Paycheck Protection Program rollout and are still playing catch-up with issues. Nevertheless, the trade groups also report that this rollout has gone a lot smoother than in the past.
The National Credit Union Administration will begin accepting applications on Jan. 24 for federally insured, low-income credit unions that want to use the agency’s streamlined qualification process to be certified as Community Development Financial Institutions.
The new Paycheck Protection Program starts with initial lending limited to businesses who have not received a PPP loan and lending going through Community Development Financial Institutions, Minority Depository Institutions, certified development corporations and microlenders. After a few days the lending options open further.
Former National Credit Union Administration board members and credit union lobbyists speculate on the legislative changes that will occur now that the Democrats will control the Senate.
President Trump on Wednesday vetoed the massive defense authorization bill and then threatened to veto the massive economic stimulus and omnibus appropriations bill.
Treasury Secretary-designate Janet Yellen met with representatives of Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions and made a commitment on behalf of the Biden Administration to support the program.
The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions and the Credit Union National Association comment on the combined economic stimulus bill and the FY21 appropriations bill that passed the House and Senate yesterday.
Congress is preparing to pass legislation that contains a $12 billion set-aside for the Community Development Financial Institutions program, and extensions of the Paycheck Protection Program, the Troubled Debt Restructuring provisions, and the pandemic-related provisions of the National Credit Union Administration’s Central Liquidity Facility. Congress is combining the coronavirus economic stimulus bill and the FY21 omnibus appropriations measure into one bill totally 5,593 pages.
President Trump appears to have gone back on a commitment he made during the recent presidential campaign and is once again opposing funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions program.