The following is a letter sent from CU Strategic Planning to the House and Senate appropriations committees on March 18, 2020, with recommendations for implementing emergency appropriations in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
CU Strategic Planning is the small business consultancy that credit unions turn to to advise them and has written more CDFI award-winning grants than anyone else in the CDFI industry. We recommend the following “ready to implement” ideas. Congress needs to fund emergency dollars to help CDFI credit unions continue to lend during these times of Coronavirus crisis. April 21, 2020 is the current deadline for submission for CDFI’s for grant applications for funding. In advance of that deadline, Congress should:
1. Immediately more than double CDFI funding from $262 million to $600 million for the April 21 grant funding program. This funding program is already in process, and in the interest of making the program as useful as it could be during this time of economic distress, the higher allocation should lead to:
Higher awards for CDFI’s applying on April 21 from $1 million back to $2 million which would significantly increase CDFI credit union’s ability to fund small dollar consumer, transportation, home ownership, and micro and small business lending to low to moderate income families; and,
Larger numbers of CDFI credit union winners, increasing the capacity of credit unions lending into rural, suburban and urban communities, breaking through the artificial ceiling for credit unions in this vital program.
2. Immediately fund a special Emergency Round of CDFI Funding of $500 million targeted to lending institutions that can demonstrate the capacity to increase small dollar consumer, transportation, small business and home mortgage lending.
This program should target CDFI’s and specifically CDFI credit unions that have immediate capacity and implementation ready programs and initiatives on a rolling basis over the next 6 months.
3. Immediately fund $5 million for the National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) Community Development Revolving Loan Fund.
Immediately help credit union’s with initiatives for lending as well as provide a source of liquidity to smaller credit unions.
CU Strategic Planning has written more than $120 million dollars in winning grants for CDFI credit unions to implement all over the nation, and has the ability to help CDFI credit unions get immediate help for low to moderate working families in the form of small consumer loans, auto loans, home mortgages and micro and small business loans.
CU Strategic Planning stands ready to help hundreds of credit unions restore consumer confidence, create and recreate lost jobs and get the economy moving again with two small yet vital programs. I encourage you to contact me directly if you have any questions or suggestions at 202.802.0036 or mike@creditunionstrategicplanning.com
Respectfully,
Michael V. Beall, Esq.
Chief Strategic and Advocacy Officer
CU Strategic Planning