To promote job creation and economic vitality in neglected rural and urban communities, ABA and several other financial trade groups today urged House and Senate appropriations leaders to support $304 million in funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in fiscal year 2021, with $35 million allocated for the Bank Enterprise Award program.
The groups noted that this request reflects a modest increase in funding levels from last year, and highlights the demand for the program. In 2019 alone, the BEA program received $150 million in requests—six times the amount of funding that was available that year. They also noted that the BEA program benefits small banks and banks working in the most distressed communities nationwide.