On October 23, more than 100 Republican members of Congress penned a bicameral letter to the Treasury secretary and the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), reaffirming support for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The letter, led by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Representative Young Kim (R-CA), emphasized the important role CDFIs play in supporting economic development in rural, tribal and other underserved communities by offering “flexible financing tools” to enhance the viability of economic development projects.
The lawmakers warned that eliminating the CDFI Fund would negatively impact economic opportunity and the feasibility of community development projects, stating it was unclear how these programs would continue to operate if the CDFI Fund’s obligations became inactive. The letter highlighted key programs administered by the fund whose operations would be threatened by the elimination of the Fund. Among these programs were: (i) the New Markets Tax Credit, which, according to the letter, has created over one million jobs since its inception and was made permanent under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; and (ii) the Capital Magnet Fund, which the letter argued has been used to support housing investments, working in tandem with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to remedy persistent shortages in housing supply and affordability.
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