The Senate returns this week and the House will return next week. There is still much to be done and it is unlikely that Congress will get to everything related to credit unions before the election. Here is a summary of the decisions and legislation that remain.
The coronavirus economic crisis demonstrated the failure of large banks to reach small and minority-owned businesses, Cathie Mahon, president/CEO of Inclusiv told the Community Development Financial Advisory Board Thursday.
Community Development Financial Institutions stepped up to fill that void as much as they could, Mahon, whose trade group represents community development credit unions, told the board. She added, however, that Minority Depository Institutions and CDFIs were hampered in that effort because they need the capital, technical support, and platforms to keep up with the evolving financial services world.
Amid signs that federal pandemic assistance funds have not reached businesses that need them the most, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) this week introduced legislation creating a new $2 billion emergency fund for Community Development Financial Institutions.
The legislation, S. 4430, would automatically provide capital for CDFIs during a natural disaster or economic crisis. The legislation is cosponsored by nine Democrats and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
The House on Friday passed an FY21 spending measure that would increase Community Development Financial Institutions funding by $11.5 million and set aside $2 million for a pilot test of postal banking.
Voting 217-197, the House passed H.R. 7617, which combines six of the annual appropriations bills, including the Financial Services spending measure.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Tuesday that, if elected, he will push plans to use Community Development Financial Institutions to help close the racial wealth gap.
A draft of the 2020 national Democratic platform calls for an “up-dated and modernized version” of the Glass-Steagall Act and for an examination of postal banking.
The draft document, which the Democratic National Committee is scheduled to consider on Monday, said the party will push for “a new economic contract that provides access for all to reliable and affordable banking and financial services.”
It also calls for beefing up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and doubling funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions program.
As Republicans continued to haggle over how to cobble together a Senate version of the next pandemic economic stimulus bill Thursday, House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) defended the Democratic House version of the measure, known as the HEROES Act.
Saying that the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic crisis has hit low-income and minority neighborhoods the hardest, Senate Democrats Tuesday proposed using Community Development Financial Institutions to funnel billions of dollars into those areas.
The Democratic leadership of the House Financial Services Committee is pursuing a purely partisan agenda and is pushing dead-on-arrival legislation that will not help Americans weather the coronavirus pandemic, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, the committee’s ranking Republican, charged Thursday. “Since June 3, 2020, the Committee has focused on pursuing a purely partisan agenda,” McHenry wrote in a letter to committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “There have been no bipartisan policy discussions. No overtures to reach across the aisle. No willingness to entertain, let alone find bipartisan solutions.” The Financial Services Committee traditionally has been a highly partisan committee,
The House Appropriations Committee Wednesday approved an FY21 financial services spending measure that includes an $11.5 million boost for the Community Development Financial Institutions program. Voting 30-22, the committee approved the bill that would provide $273.5 million for the program in FY21. The bill also would provide the NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund with $2 million in FY21. The program received $950,00 this year. Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) told the committee that the CDFI program has worked extremely well in areas of his district. The Trump Administration has proposed eliminating the program in each of its budgets. The report