Durbin Joins Warner, Crapo, Colleagues In Letter Reaffirming Bipartisan Support For Community Development Financial Institutions
Letter follows Trump administration Executive Order on the CDFI Fund
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), Co-Chairs of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus, in a letter to the Trump administration signed by 23 Senators emphasizing the bipartisan support for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), and highlighting the fund’s critical role in providing capital to underserved communities.
The CDFI Fund boosts economic growth in largely underserved communities that lack traditional access to financing, creating a public-private partnership to promote access to capital. Since 1994, the CDFI sector has grown to over 1400 institutions, located in every state and territory in the nation—and leveraging at least $8 in private sector investment for every $1 in public funding received. There are 39 CDFIs in Illinois that have issued nearly 76,000 loans worth more than $2.9 billion since 1994.
“Over 1,400 CDFIs represent a significant portion of America’s financial services sector, delivering over $300 billion in financial services each year to urban and rural communities across every state,” the Senators wrote. “Each year, CDFIs provide affordable growth capital to over 100,000 small businesses and finance over $100 billion in residential real estate, bringing down the cost of housing through new construction and affordable home mortgages. The important work of the CDFI sector is strengthened by the CDFI Fund, which provides seed funding to new CDFIs, grows the capacity of existing CDFIs, and provides oversight to ensure federal dollars are spent appropriately. Elimination of key CDFI Fund functions would undermine this important progress, including for small businesses and homeowners.”
They continued, “The CDFI Fund’s public-private partnership model aligns with this Administration’s emphasis on ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and with measurable impact. Every federal dollar injected into a CDFI generates at least eight more dollars from private-sector investment. Due in large part to the investments the Trump Administration made in the CDFI Fund in 2020, industry assets have tripled and the number of CDFI-certified entities has risen by 40 percent.”
In addition to Durbin, Warner, and Crapo, the letter was also signed by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Steve Daines (R-MT), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Boozman (R-AR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jim Justice (R-WV), and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).
A copy of letter is available here.
-30-