Bill > ACR62

Introduced Session

This concurrent resolution urges the United States Congress to oppose proposed federal regulatory changes to the "Community Reinvestment Act." The federal "Community Reinvestment Act" (CRA), enacted in 1977, requires the Federal Reserve and other federal banking regulators to encourage financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including low and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. The CRA has been a critical tool in working to end the practice of redlining, the discriminatory practice by which banks actively avoided making loans to lower-income neighborhoods. The CRA has helped to increase lending through the examination and rating of banks as the law holds banks publicly accountable for lending, investing and providing bank services to LMI borrowers and communities. Between 1993 and 1998, the United States Department of Treasury documented that loans to LMI borrowers increased by 39 percent, more than twice the 17 percent rate of growth for loans to middle- and upper-income borrowers and communities. Despite the significant progress made under the CRA in addressing discriminatory lending practices and the fact that, between 2007 and 2017, minority-owned small businesses grew by 79 percent, minority-owned firms are much less likely to be approved for small business loans than white-owned firms, and if approved are more likely to receive lower amounts and higher interest rates. Furthermore, female entrepreneurs continue to face challenges accessing capital, with only four percent of the total dollar value of all small business loans going to women entrepreneurs. The Trump administration has proposed regulatory changes to the CRA, such as allowing banks to finance improvements to athletic stadiums in low-income census tracts located in Opportunity Zones, providing CRA credit for middle-income housing units located in upper-income areas, and allowing banks to offer financial education to people of all income levels instead of solely providing this service to low and moderate-income people. These regulatory changes would harm community development in LMI areas and weaken the financial investments already made throughout New Jersey and the nation.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Garnet Hall (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document