The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the institutions it serves are “an essential and vital source of capital and financial services to underserved communities,” and the Trump administration should not fire its staff, 120 House Democrats wrote in a letter to administration officials.
Earlier this month, the Office of Management and Budget sent termination letters to CDFI Fund staff as part of a broader federal workforce reduction push in response to the government shutdown. The administration has also suggested eliminating the program.
More than 100 Republican lawmakers last week urged the OMB to reconsider its decision. In a letter today, House Democrats accused the administration of using the shutdown to pursue illegal job cuts at the CFDI Fund. They also expressed “deep concern” about the effects of ending a program with bipartisan support.
“CDFIs are vital to Main Street prosperity,” the lawmakers said. “Moreover, the New Markets Tax Credit program implemented by the CDFI Fund has contributed more than $81 billion in tax credit awards to projects that include investment in manufacturing facilities, educational centers and hospitals. The sudden, inexplicable loss of this critical funding conduit could mean a decades-long recovery for impacted communities, as they seek to replace CDFI Fund dollars that are typically leveraged more than eight times by private funding.”
