Enterprise: Community Developments: Improving the Affordability & Effectiveness of the NFIP
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- In a letter to the three federal banking agencies - the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - 16 Democratic senators urge the regulators to amend the Community Reinvestment Act in a way that increases opportunities for minorities. Led by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the letter underscores the positive contributions of the CRA to low- and moderate-income communities, while noting that changes to the implementation of the CRA are overdue. The letter endorses a number of recommendations for CRA improvement that the Treasury Department released last month, such as broadening the definition of a bank's assessment area to “better account for the range of delivery channels banks offer”. However, it also expresses concern over other suggestions, such as the OCC policy that would permit the expansion of banks with “less than satisfactory” CRA ratings.
- Last week President Trump signed the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Act into law. The FSS Act, which was included in a larger bank deregulation bill (S. 2155) that passed the House on May 22, reauthorizes the FSS program, combines the FSS programs for Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing (they are currently run separately), and expands eligibility to include families in privately owned properties subsidized with HUD project-based rental assistance. The FSS Program enables households with increasing incomes to place their additional rent contributions in a savings account, allowing them to use these savings toward their financial goals. (NLIHC, May 29)
Courtesy of Enterprise
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