The government funding bill released by lawmakers Thursday contains several priorities for credit unions, in addition to America’s Credit Unions-supported language related to oversight of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and Small Business Administration (SBA).
Federal government funding is currently scheduled to lapse after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Friday; this legislation would fund its parts of the government through Sept. 30.
The bill’s joint explanatory statement directs the CDFI Fund to provide a briefing no later than 60 days after enactment on the rollout of the new CDFI application for the fiscal year 2024 application period and feedback received from stakeholders.
America’s Credit Unions—and its legacy organizations—has engaged with the fund over on the new application to ensure community-focused credit unions weren’t excluded from the process.
The statement also directs SBA to provide a comprehensive report no later than 120 days after enactment on the “oversight capabilities of the SBA in light of new non-traditional lenders entering the SBA’s programs.” Last year the SBA finalized rules that expanded who was eligible to participate as SBA lenders.
The bill funds the National Flood Insurance Program through Sept. 30, and contains funding for several credit union priorities, including:
- $324 million for the CDFI Fund, the same amount as FY23;
- $3.465 million for the NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, slightly down from FY23;
- $18.5 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Cooperative Development Program, the same amount as FY23; and
- $190 million for the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the same amount as FY23.
