Senator Mike Crapo | Official U.S. Senate headshot
Senator Mike Crapo | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Mark R. Warner, who co-chair the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus, have led a bipartisan effort to support the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. In a letter addressed to Scott Bessent, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, they emphasized the fund's essential role in providing capital to underserved communities. The letter was signed by 23 senators.
The CDFI Fund aims to stimulate economic growth in areas lacking traditional financial access through public-private partnerships. Since its inception in 1994, it has expanded to over 1,400 institutions nationwide and leveraged $8 in private investment for every $1 of public funding.
“Over 1,400 CDFIs represent a significant portion of America’s financial services sector, delivering over $300 billion in financial services each year to urban and rural communities across every state,” stated the senators. They further noted that CDFIs offer affordable growth capital to over 100,000 small businesses annually and finance more than $100 billion in residential real estate.
The letter highlighted that eliminating key functions of the CDFI Fund could undermine progress made for small businesses and homeowners. It also praised the fund's alignment with current administration goals for efficient taxpayer spending with measurable impacts.
“The CDFI Fund’s public-private partnership model aligns with this Administration’s emphasis on ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and with measurable impact," continued the letter. "Every federal dollar injected into a CDFI generates at least eight more dollars from private-sector investment."
Among those signing the letter were Senators Chuck Schumer, Tina Smith, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Amy Klobuchar, Roger Wicker, Raphael Warnock, Bill Cassidy, Chris Van Hollen, Mike Rounds, Jack Reed, Steve Daines, Gary Peters, John Boozman, John Hickenlooper, Lisa Murkowski, Ron Wyden, Tim Sheehy, Cory Booker, Jim Justice, Dick Durbin and Ruben Gallego.
Senators Crapo and Warner launched the bipartisan Senate Community Development Finance Caucus in 2022 to enhance efforts supporting CDFIs' missions. The caucus now includes 28 members equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.
A copy of their letter is available for review.
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