The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito The Honorable Tom Graves
Chairman Chairman
Subcommittee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Services
and General Government Appropriations and General Government Appropriations
172 Russell Senate Office Building 2000 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Senator Chris Coons The Honorable Mike Quigley
Ranking Member Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Services
and General Government Appropriations and General Government Appropriations
127A Russell Senate Office Building 2459 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Honorable Senators and Representatives:
CU Strategic Planning works with more than 500 credit unions, and works directly with more than 200 credit unions with the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund designation serving more 5 million consumers. We write to you today to urge you to robustly fund the CDFI Fund for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 at the levels of at least previous year’s appropriations.
CDFI is an effective federal government agency and important part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that has been a significant partner for our credit union clients working to lend to small businesses that have added more than 10,000 jobs to the economy, and to help retain jobs that would otherwise be threatened. The partnership between credit unions and CDFI has also led to tens of thousands of small dollar loans and used auto loans that have helped low to moderate income families have access to affordable transportation to their jobs, helping families avoid utilizing other support programs. Additionally, housing projects with credit unions in urban and rural areas have helped thousands of American obtain the American dream of homeownership even though they were from low to moderate income families.
We regard sufficient funding for the CDFI Fund to be an essential part of Congress’ efforts to support infrastructure in the nation, and so we urge you to consider the CDFI Fund as a vital partner to credit unions that are the safe cooperatively owned places to save and borrow for more than 105 million Americans.
Respectfully,
Michael V. Beall, Esq.
Chief Strategic and Advocacy Officer