Congress passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill last week, to fund the government through September and in an attempt to avoid another government shutdown.
The National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) commended the passage of the spending plan, particularly two provisions that help credit unions.
One is the restoration of full funding in the amount of $250 million for the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The other is $2 million in funding for the National Credit Union Administrations Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF).
President Donald Trump had proposed eliminating both of the programs in his 2018 and 2019 budget requests.
NAFCU urged Congress to fully fund the programs, which predominantly help credit unions serve low-income areas.
“We thank appropriators and congressional leadership for recognizing the importance of the CDFI Fund and the CDRLF program,” NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said. “NAFCU has worked to obtain full funding of these programs so that credit unions can continue to take advantage of their benefits for their members in underserved areas, and we are pleased to see Congress agree in the omnibus allocations.”
Additionally, the spending bill authorizes the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through July 31 and asks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a study on the cost of implementing the Dodd-Frank Act. Further, the bill increases the cap on Small Business Administration loan programs.