Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee supports the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) plan to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) but urges caution in doing so.
The CRA was originally enacted to address the lack of credit and financial services in low and moderate-income communities. The OCC recently put out a notice seeking feedback on how to improve the CRA.
In a letter to the OCC, the Democrats – including Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Jim Himes (D-CT) – said CRA is an important tool in bringing financial services to underserved communities and modernizing it needs to be a priority.
“However, the questions OCC has framed in its rulemaking process have raised some concerns about the direction of CRA’s modernization, which we are addressing in this letter,” Meeks said.
If CRA is not modernized, opportunities will be stifled for small business entrepreneurs in communities across the country, Himes added.
“The financial services industry has transformed, and it’s critical we update and improve the application of the CRA,” he said. “We must meet the needs of communities in a safe and responsible way, especially the needs of financial consumers and small business entrepreneurs located in underserved communities.”