Sponsors (54)
The bill directs significantly more, better‑structured capital and transparency to CDFIs—including a targeted boost for Native CDFIs—to expand community lending, but it risks concentrating support with larger intermediaries, excluding smaller local borrowers, increasing administrative burdens, and creating potential fiscal exposure for taxpayers.
Taxpayers, Congress, and stakeholders gain regular public transparency and oversight through annual Treasury reports, required effectiveness reporting, and recurring congressional oversight opportunities.
CDFIs, community lenders, small businesses, and low-income communities get expanded access to capital and liquidity via clearer program rules, access to up to $1B in annual bond guarantees, authority for loan purchases/guarantees/credit enhancements, and removal of small per-organization caps—enabling larger and more predictable financing.
Native tribes and Native CDFIs receive targeted support—an annual $50M mortgage lending set-aside, operational support grants (20% of loan amounts), and limited technical assistance funding—to increase homeownership and strengthen lender capacity in tribal communities.
Smaller CDFIs, small projects, and local/rural borrowers risk being excluded by the $25M minimum deal size and by prohibitions on smaller guarantees, reducing financing options for many community-level projects.
An annual $1B cap and targeted set‑asides (for example the $50M tribal set‑aside) can limit total support in high‑demand years and reallocate funds away from non‑Native borrowers or other eligible projects.
Removing per-organization caps and expanding eligibility to non‑CDFIs risks concentrating federal support with larger intermediaries and channeling funds to organizations with less community-development experience, potentially weakening outcomes for underserved borrowers.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Expands CDFI Fund liquidity tools and oversight, sets bond guarantee floor and cap, removes a per‑recipient cap, and creates a Native CDFI set‑aside for rural mortgage lending.
Official title: Amend the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to require the Secretary of the Treasury to testify before Congress, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 26, 2026 by Steve Daines · Last progress February 26, 2026
Expands Treasury authority and oversight for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program to increase liquidity and capital for community lenders, including a new set‑aside for Native CDFIs to support mortgage lending in tribal and Native communities. It requires new annual reporting and testimony to Congress, creates minimum and cap rules for bond guarantees, authorizes purchase of loans and loan participations, removes a prior per‑recipient funding cap, and directs deposits from loan sale proceeds into an Emergency Capital Investment Fund for further CDFI support. The bill targets increased access to financing for underserved communities (including Native, rural, and other low‑income areas) by changing program rules, eligibility, prioritization, and oversight for Treasury’s CDFI programs and by requiring periodic congressional reports on program use and effectiveness.