House Subcommittee Approves $273.5 Million for CDFI Fund in FY 2021
Dafina Williams
On July 8, the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee approved its FY 2021 appropriations bill which includes $273.5 million for the CDFI Fund, an increase of four percent compared to FY 2020 funding levels.
During the markup, Chairman Mike Quigley (D-IL) highlighted his support of the CDFI Fund in his opening statement. The bill includes $171 million for the Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance Program, including at least $6 million for CDFIs to expand investments that benefit individuals with disabilities, $16 million for the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program, $25 million for Bank Enterprise Awards (BEA), $22 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), $10 million for loan loss reserves for small dollar lending, and $500 million in guarantee authority for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
The next step is for the FY 2021 FSGG Appropriations bill to be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee, which will likely happen in the next couple weeks. The Senate has not yet scheduled any of its FY 2021 appropriations markups. Congress faces a short timeline to complete its work on appropriations before the fiscal year ends on September 30. With the August recess looming and upcoming election season, there is likely to be at least a short-term continuing resolution to fund the federal government until an agreement on FY 2021 spending is reached.
In addition to ensuring strong appropriations in the annual budget, OFN is still actively advocating for $1 billion in emergency appropriations for the CDFI Fund as part of the next economic stimulus package. The House-passed HEROES Act included this funding and negotiations are currently underway in the Senate. Visit OFN’s Policy Action Center to urge your elected officials to support this critical funding.
For more information on OFN’s appropriations advocacy, contact Dafina Williams, Senior Vice President, Public Policy.